Devil Game
by Houkaru Kisaragi
Summary: Did God really seal 666 during the Great War? Or was the Beast of Apocalypse too powerful to be completely sealed away? That is a secret only one Naruto Uzumaki knows, and it is a secret that may very well heralds the end of all worlds.
1. Shit Happens

Crazy.

That was the first thing any student of Kuoh Academy would describe one eccentric and sometimes deranged Naruto Uzumaki. On his best days, he showed zero interest in anything and stared intently at the classroom's wall. On his worse, he set fire on random inanimate objects without physically doing the crime. How did people know he was the pyromaniac?

Naruto would stand up, point a finger at the fire, and guffaw like a devil, while students started screaming in frantic frenzy.

Nobody knew how he did it. No, scratch that. Nobody wanted to know how he did it.

His sociopathic tendencies deterred everybody from approaching him. Once, a group of sophomores decided it would be a great idea to lock Naruto up in the classroom's closet for the weekend. The next morning, the janitor found the bullies tied up to the teacher's desk with their naked rear facing the ceiling and a plethora of stationaries jammed down their rectums.

When the sophomores regained their consciousness and were interrogated, they had unfortunately not regained their sanity to speak coherently, spluttering gibberish nonsense and breaking down into sobbing messes. At the very mention of Naruto Uzumaki's name, the bullies collapsed like puppets having their strings cut off and foam was oozing from their mouths.

That incident had cemented Naruto as the infamous Monster of Kuoh Academy.

Nobody had the balls to talk to him, but that was not the case for Akeno Himejima. She was the class president, thus the duty to ensure every student behaves properly falls on her. It was a tiresome job, but she didn't complain, because she was the revered and idolized Onee-sama of Kuoh Academy. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Akeno stood before the lackadaisical blond with furrowed brows and an arm underneath her ample bosom. "Uzumaki-san, why -"

Naruto dropped his legs on his table, leaned into his seat, threw his hands behind his head, and interjected. "Before you say anything, I just wanna say that it wasn't me who set chickens loose in the teacher's lounge."

"No, I did not come here to talk to you about -"

"You're not?" Naruto stiffened.

"No…?"

"Okay." The blond dropped his shoulders and let out a sigh of relief.

Akeno blinked, realization suddenly dawn on her before her beautiful features contorted into a horrified blanch. "W-Wait, it was you?"

Naruto swallowed sheepishly. "…No?"

Nursing her throbbing temples, Akeno pulled a chair beside the blond with the intention to corner him, sat down gracefully with her skirt tucked under her thighs, and shot him a disapproving look. "I won't pursue that matter, but I hope you would execute your future antics more discreetly."

Naruto quirked a brow. "What? You're not gonna lecture me to death about appropriate conduct and whatnot?"

"If I do, will you miraculously change your ways?"

An impish grin played about Naruto's lips. "Aww, you know me best, Akeno-chan."

The blond pressed the class president's nose gently and beamed. "Boop."

"W-What?" Akeno stifled her embarrassment and peered at the blond incredulously. "What are you doing?"

"What did I look like I was doing? I just booped your nose." Naruto justified his action as if it was a natural thing to do. "Now go on with what you want to say to me. I don't have all day."

"Can you explain to me why did the Student Council find four third-year students hung upside-down in the male's lavatory?" Akeno smiled sweetly

Naruto raised a finger and corrected. "You missed out the fact that they were butt-naked."

Akeno palmed her face. "Why?"

"Why what?"

Her patience was wearing thin as she elaborated with frustration lacing her words. "Why did you do it?"

Naruto clutched his chest and blinked innocently at Akeno, who schooled her expression into something akin to indifference. "You wound me, Akeno-chan. You would think that low of me? That I was the one who did all those things to those poor third-year students?"

Akeno shot the blond a dry look and responded in a monotone. "Yes."

The blond nearly fell down from his chair in a comical fashion. "Let me get this straight. If anything weird happens in this school, you automatically assume I'm behind it? That's outright discrimination and I resent that!"

"Here's the ultimatum." The class president narrowed her eyes, licked her lips, and smiled wryly. "Surrender, confess and submit to me of your own volition. That is the easy way out for you. Or you can go with the hard way and I'll just forcefully make you surrender, confess and submit to me. Either way… I win."

"But -"

"No, no, no, no, no," Akeno drawled softly and placed a finger on his lips. "Shh… No buts."

She leaned forward until their noses were inches apart and she pursed her lips seductively. "Will you surrender to me?"

Sweats were forming profusely on Naruto's forehead as he gave the very attractive and well-endowed girl an appraising look. She was the epitome of elegance. From her angelic features down to the way she walks, Akeno Himejima was undeniably a beauty of heavenly proportions. The masses would cut a leg off just to smell her fart, but not Naruto, because he knew behind that beautiful face was a sadist who would love to see man like him subjugated under her will.

"Sounds kinky, but I have nothing to declare but my genius." Naruto unexpectedly seized Akeno's wrist and pulled her closer to him, whispering conspiratorially into her ear. "However, if you can catch me, I'll let you do anything you want to me."

A mischievous grin curled at her lips, her husky voice was barely containing her excitement. "Anything?"

"Well, that is if you can catch me."

The class president's eyes widened like saucer plates when she saw the blond dug out a smoke grenade from his breast pocket and carelessly tossed it on the ground. "Oh snap. Time flies when we're having fun, but I gotta go. See ya, Akeno-chan!"

As if on cue, the smoke grenade exploded, flooding the entire classroom with orange gas, prompting a bedlam that had students coughing and running in disarray.

When the gas had dispersed, the blond was long gone.

The window beside Naruto's seat, which was supposedly close, was opened and the curtain was fluttering wildly.

Akeno took a deep breath to suppress her desire for blood, but what she saw written on the blackboard had invigorated her with righteous fury.

Written on the blackboard in bold letters were four/five words:

AKENO-CHAN DOESN'T WEAR PANTIES

Akeno cracked her knuckles and stared dangerously at the blackboard.

"When I'm done with you, you will wish you were never born."

-Devil Game-

Naruto was humming a tune that he had faintly remembered while he strolled along the bustling street with his hands in his pockets and his back slouched. He had initially decided to go to the usual ramen store ensconced near a secluded alley, partly because the chef was an ancient crone who really knew how to cook ramen, but he had shook that urge off.

 _ **"A pesky little bird is following you."**_

Naruto rolled his eyes. _"I'm not an amateur, Kurama. I could smell her right from the jump."_

 _ **"I'm glad your sensory skills haven't gotten rusty yet. I would have thought you playing house with these cockroaches had made you… weak. Glad I was wrong."**_

The blond clicked his tongue and surreptitiously snuck into the alleyway. Leaning against the brick wall, he snuffed out his presence like blowing out a candle, concealing his track in the process. He had learned this parlour trick from the Tsuchikage a few days before he passed away.

 _ **"Still thinking about the past, huh?"**_

 _"I already forgot all about it."_ Naruto grimaced.

 _ **"You can't lie to me, kit. I am a part of you. And I know how much it hurts to think about those stuff. But you gotta let it go. The guilt will one day kill you, if not, drive you insane. I know it's not my place to tell you to let it go. One can't just let go all those burden suddenly, but it has been far too long for someone to mop about 'what-ifs'. Time to wake the hell up."**_

Naruto raked his fingers through his unkempt hair and heaved a tired sigh. _"Just go to sleep, you oversized fur-ball."_

 _ **"I hope you don't go and do something stupid that would inadvertently get yourself killed while I'm sleeping. After all, you're a trouble magnet. You find shit like moth find flames."**_

 _"Hey! That's not true. I don't go and openly find shit. Shit finds me. There's a difference!"_

Kurama did not speak afterwards.

Muttering inaudible curses under his breath, the blond formed his signature hand-sign and two clones seemingly puffed into existence. "A fallen angel is on our tail. I want you two to scout the entire city. Fallen angel doesn't operate alone. They fight in a pack, like wolves. I bet my candy ass there is a bunch of them hiding somewhere, so it's gonna be a bad idea to instigate a fight with the unknown without some insurance policy. You get my drift, boys?"

The clones gave their original a rigid salute and murmured in unison. "Understood, boss."

Naruto made a gesture and watched as his clones vanished into golden blurs.

"I'm gonna scare myself a fallen angel."

-Devil Game-

Raynare really despised that angel-side of her.

She was edging through the sea of people in humid heat while keeping a close eye on her target with rapt attention, like a hawk studying its prey, but got distracted when an elderly woman begged her desperately for help. Hundreds of people had strode past the poor old woman, yet nobody heard her pleas.

Raynare wanted to walk away, but the wrinkled woman kept tugging at her sleeve. She was a fallen angel, not a goody-two-shoe charity-case, and most importantly, she had a mission! She couldn't just abandon her mission just to help an annoying old woman.

"I'm really sorry, baa-chan. I-I'm kinda in a hurry."

"I-I see. I'm sorry." The elderly woman's crestfallen face irked the fallen angel.

Raynare shook her head to dismiss her thoughts, tidied her pink sweater, straightened her polka dot skirt, and stalked towards her objective. She caught a glimpse of the elderly woman in her peripheral begging for people to help her, yet everybody was avoiding her like a plague. Chewing her lips and exhaling an irritated sigh, Raynare walked briskly back to the old lady. "Baa-chan, I'll help you."

"I-I thought you were busy." The old woman blinked apologetically.

The fallen angel smiled wearily and waved a hand. "No, no! It's okay. Tell me what do you need help with?"

She took one last glance at her target and fiddled with her fingers. _"He's energy signature makes him a walking beacon. I'll find him later. Right now, I'll just need to -"_

"Thank you so much, Ojou-chan." The elderly woman smiled kindly. "I need to find my grandson. I told him to wait for me at a ramen store, but I lost my way. Can you bring me there?"

"Yes, of course." Raynare nodded with a small smile. "Does the store have a name?"

"Y-Yes. It's called… Shinto Ramen."

Raynare heard about that peculiar store before. Supernatural entities tend to avoid that area at all cost, but nobody knew why. Her superior had specifically instructed her never to tread lightly on forbidden grounds, in this case, the territory that housed Shinto Ramen. It was highly unlikely that the elderly woman would deceive her; she didn't even reek danger or contempt. Hell, she smelled like any ordinary human.

Raynare abolished any further hesitation and guided the old woman to her destination. They walked past two districts, crossed a bridge, made a few detours, and finally ended up on an alleyway that led them directly to the store.

It was then the fallen angel detected anomaly in the atmosphere.

The air was dense.

No alleyway smells like spring and daisies.

The thing that stood out the most was the dreadful silence that coerced the place.

It shouldn't be this quiet.

Raynare spun around.

Her eyes widened in horror. The elderly woman was gone. But that wasn't possible. As a fallen angel, her ability to track energy signature was paramount. She started scanning every inch of the alleyway with stern scrutiny, but there was nobody, not even a fly.

And then there was applause.

Raynare's eyes drifted sharply to her side and found a mysterious blond standing before her. She took a tentative step forward and narrowed her eyes, discerning the features of the enigmatic man, and was baffled when she unravelled the man's identity. "Y-You!"

"Me." Naruto pointed a finger at himself and a Cheshire grin tugged at his lips. "Hi."

"W-Where is the old lady? W-Who are you?" Raynare's posture was jittery, but she did her best to conceal her apprehension and mustered a brave visage.

"You don't need to be tense." Naruto snapped his fingers and his frame immediately erupted into smoke. The fallen angel flinched in shock when the elderly woman stepped out of the dust cloud. "I am the old woman."

Raynare scowled and her lips were stretched in a thin line. "You tricked me."

The elderly woman transformed back into the blond, who was smiling suavely. "So, mind telling me why you're following me?"

"I wasn't." The fallen angel looked away.

"Right." A billowing breeze swept past, tousling their hair. Raynare was experiencing a bombardment of emotions to do anything about it. Naruto leaned against a nearby wall and crossed his arms, his triumphant grin widened. "Let's cut the chase. Who sent you?"

"W-What?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Your kind doesn't work alone. You guys travel in groups and are always supervised by a superior. That means you would never come to this world without any reason. Judging by how you hold yourself, I bet you're just a foot soldier. Therefore, whoever your commander is, I am one hundred and ten percent sure he didn't send you here to buy me a year worth of ramen. I know at least that much. Now, the million dollar question comes."

Raynare's eyes darted left and right, as if finding an escape route, but unfortunately, there was none. She was trapped in a highly sophisticated barrier that was beyond her and she cursed herself for being sloppy.

"What does your commander want from me?"

"H-How did you know I was a fallen angel?"

Naruto glanced predatorily at the fallen angel with a haughty grin on his comely features. "I never said you were a fallen angel."

Raynare started knocking her temples for being so ludicrously stupid.

The blond actually found her adorably stupid. "So, who sent you? Azazel? No, no. That idiot knows better than to send someone of your calibre to spy on me. It can't be Baraqiel. That man is as stiff as a lamp post. So, it has to be… Kokabiel, right?"

The fallen angel swallowed down her trepidation and materialised a spear of light instinctively. "I… I don't know what you're talking about -"

"You see, by the way you react to Kokabiel's name, you become excessively jumpy. You were fearful of Baraqiel; that much is awfully certain, but I can tell you hate Azazel. The way your lips twitch when I mention Azazel's name shows contempt. I would say… he is the reason why you fell from grace." Naruto's knowing smile became disturbing wide when Raynare's knuckle went white from gripping her spear a little too tight. "Alright, I'll stop messing with you. Now tell me what does Kokabiel wants from me?"

The fallen angel's beautiful face became solemn and she glared vicious daggers at the blond. "It doesn't matter. My cover is blown. I have to kill you."

Letting out a war cry, Raynare charged towards the still-grinning blond and swung her spear. She was dumbfounded when she stabbed air. Turning around, she found the aggravating blond blowing his nails. "It's cool to have a spear. But having a weapon means absolutely jack if you can't hit your opponent, right?"

The fallen angel's eyelid twitched vigorously before she made another attempt to pierce the unfazed blond, who had merely sidestepped her haphazard assault and kicked the back of her shin. Losing her momentum, Raynare tumbled to the ground and unwittingly dropped her weapon. It was then Raynare understood why the blond had led her to this sequestered alleyway.

The confined space of the alleyway restricted her from swinging her spear dexterously. The barrier encompassing the alley would probably take twenty magic technicians to dismantle, hence preventing her from flying away and forbidding any intrusion from outside force. _"He orchestrated everything right from the start! To think that I would be tricked by this… Wait a sec! He doesn't smell like a devil, yet the barrier has demonic origin. He sure as hell ain't an angel and definitely not one of us. Just what is this guy?"_

"I'm a human."

Raynare peered up and blinked. "Y-You're reading my mind?"

"No." Naruto snickered. "You're just too transparent."

The fallen angel picked up her spear, clambered up to her full height, and regained her composure. "I have to kill you."

"You don't have to."

"I won't be swayed by words!"

Naruto tilted his head to his side to duck from an incoming spear strike. "Look, whatever that old slime offered you, I'm pretty sure it won't work."

Raynare's teeth was gnashing as she performed a horizontal slash with her light spear, but the blond had deftly evaded the attack with grace. "You don't understand anything! So stop pretending you care!"

The blond took half a step back, avoiding another spear strike that was aiming for his eye and fluidly snatched the spear. His palm drew blood, yet he showed not even the slightest of discomfort, stupefying the fallen angel. "I know what he offered you. I'm telling you it's not possible."

Raynare struggled to yank her spear off Naruto's firm grip, but his herculean strength made it impossible to even make her weapon budge. "You know nothing!"

"Once you fall, you never go back." The blond sighed, hoisted his free hand up, and tapped the side of his head with his finger. "Think about it. How many angels have fallen? Thousands? Ten thousands? I bet more than that. Surely there are one or two who felt remorse and wanted to return. So why hasn't any angel who fell managed to return to heaven? The answer is simple. When you fall, it's an irreversible process. But you know that, right?"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Raynare exclaimed with tears bursting from her eyes. "Don't pretend to be high-and-mighty when you know nothing about me! Did you think I fall of my own accord? That damnable Azazel manipulated me! Manipulated us! He wanted thousands of angels to fall so he could have an army of war machines under his hegemony! He promised me a paradise if I were to follow him! He told me he loved me! And what did I get in return?"

Naruto stared with icy cold eyes at the fallen angel who had become an emotional wreck.

"Nothing! I got nothing but a fool's paradise! He threw me away like I was a toy! A fucking toy!" Raynare growled as her eyes turned murderous and she let out a seething breath. "I'm done getting kicked around. I'll rather die standing with whatever dignity I have left than -"

In an instant, Naruto crushed the light spear in his grasp into sparkling dust and brought a kunai to her neck. "The world is unfair. People make mistakes. Sometimes you can bounce out of the mess. Sometimes you can't. You were a fool to believe in Azazel and you paid the price. Now, you are repeating the same mistake as you did once by placing your faith in the likes of Kokabiel. I'm sure you know all about the fool-me-once fool-me-twice crap."

"Just kill me." Raynare closed her eyes, hot tears were still streaming down her reddened cheeks.

The blond resisted his urge to roll his eyes and glowered at the fallen angel. "If you lack the will to live because life is meaningless, then by all means, die somewhere else. I'm not taunting you. I'm speaking from experience and I understood what you're going through. Unlike you, my life was pretty much shit since the day I was born. I worked my way up and became something. It took just one mistake for shit to go crashing down. But if fate enjoys fucking with you, grovelling in defeat is not the solution. You fuck fate back. Well, that's what I would do."

Raynare turned away, but the blond had gently twirled her chin so they could meet eye to eye. "Kokabiel is a third-rate asshole. If you can't even see that, then you can return to his side and watch if things would turn out well for you. But let me remind you."

Naruto never blinked, not even once, when he stared with ruthless ferocity at the fallen angel, who cringed at how cold his gaze was. "If you obey Kokabiel and do his biddings, only death awaits you, and let me tell you this, there will be neither honour nor meaning to your imminent demise."

The man who radiated an air of an assassin and raw power simply flicked his wrist and the barrier that enveloped them was tore down. He jerked his chin at the sky and smiled at the fallen angel. "You can leave now."

"W-What?"

"Go. Do what you need to do. Evaluate Kokabiel's trustworthiness."

Raynare pushed a wiry lock of black hair behind her ear and averted her gaze. "How?"

"Probe him about the details of turning a fallen angel back to its original state. You already know he has no answer for that. Judge him by his reaction."

"He's not going to spill it out -"

Naruto poked the fallen angel's forehead and chastised. "Use that brain of yours and figure it out."

Raynare rubbed her forehead and stared curiously at the blond. "Why are you helping me? You do know I'm a fallen angel, right?"

"Stereotypically, a fallen angels doesn't help old lady." Naruto slid his hands into his pockets and softened his gaze, chuckling at how cute the fallen angel was when she failed miserably to hide her pink-tinted cheeks. "Stereotypically, devils eat children for breakfast. Stereotypically, angels are naked kids with wings and play the harp like hobos. But that's not the case, is it? Life isn't black and white. Just like how there are kind devils in the underworld and there are douchebags in heaven. A fallen angel who is willing to help an old lady in need is definitely a good person in my book."

Raynare was dumbfounded. "You didn't just lure me here. You were testing me?"

Naruto's lips drew into a smug smile. "I need to know who and what I'm dealing with. If you haven't helped the old lady back then, I would have deemed you as a stereotypical fallen angel and dealt with you like how I deal with those stereotypical fallen angels I have encountered in the past, and trust me, you don't want to know how far a crowbar can go up the ass."

That didn't feel assuring to Raynare at all. The fallen angel suppressed the shuddering chill crawling up her spine. Who knows what would happen if she had just ignored the elderly woman. _"I guess kindness has its virtues after all."_

Naruto grasped Raynare's slender shoulders and lowered his voice. "I just spared your life. So, technically, you owe me a favour."

The fallen angel looked away, her lower lip was trembling from sheer fright. "I'm scared of what you want me to do."

"You should be scared, because what I'm about to ask you to do is going to be quite difficult for you to handle." Naruto smiled. "Pull yourself together. That's all I'm asking. You're wasting your life serving under those obnoxious imps."

"It's easier said than done." Raynare hugged herself, unable to meet Naruto's compassionate gaze.

The blond shook his head and chuckled. "The decision is all yours."

A stilted silence followed, but he soon broke the tension with a wanly smile. "At any rate, you should leave."

Naruto turned around and strolled briskly towards the ramen store, which was right around the corner of the alleyway.

"W-Wait!"

The blond stopped in his strides.

"You know so much about our worlds." Raynare eyed dubiously at the blond. "Just what are you?"

Naruto hesitated for a moment and said, "A human who wants to be left alone."

-Devil Game-

In the eyes of many, Shinto Ramen was a quaint food stall stationed on the corner of a rundown street. In the supernatural world, Shinto Ramen screams no-trespassing to angels and demons alike. The sky above the shabby stall was clogged by a vortex of swirling thunderclouds from perdition that blot the sun out 24/7; the setting looked exactly like a fictional devil's abode.

The owner of Shinto Ramen was an old god who had a notoriety for being abrasive and belligerent at anything that pissed him off. Demons and angels used to shit bricks when they encountered him in the battlefield. Those were the dark days. Now, he had decided to be a humble ramen chef and -

"Iza-jii-san, one miso ramen! Hurry up, you old fart! I'm starving!"

Izanagi was a mountain of a man who had greasy short hair that was slicked to the back of his head, a jagged scar that ran down his eye, and a cigar poking out of his mouth that never seems to die out. Ducking out his head from the kitchen, Izanagi gritted his teeth and snarled. "Damn brat! Have some respect for your elders! Didn't your parents teach you any?"

"Jokes on you, coz I ain't got no parents to teach me any manners. What's your point?"

"Boohoo! Start learning some!" Izanagi stormed into the bowels of his store, gathering the ingredients for his customer. When he trudged out of the kitchen, he had a pot of broth in his hand and he placed it on the small stove behind the counter. "So, the fallen angels finally contacted you, huh?"

Naruto cocked a brow. "Were you watching me?"

The old god snorted. "Duh."

"Perv." The blond retorted.

"I was being vigilant, brat. Know your shit." Izanagi grabbed a handful of pre-cooked noodles and tossed it into the pot. "You know what that means, right? The three factions are all on the move. Everybody wants a piece of you, especially in your weakened state."

"I'm in my weakened state, that part is true." Naruto pulled the chopsticks out of the holster and smirked. "But that doesn't mean I'm weak."

Izanagi didn't say anything and poured the broth and noodles into a bowl. Placing the bowl of steaming ramen before the blond, the old god lit up the cigar in his mouth with a snap of his fingers and puffed out a ring of smoke. "So why let the fallen angel go?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Do you even Art of War? It is a necessity for soldiers to have complete faith in their commander's leadership. Our cute fallen angel's relationship with her commander is shaky, at best. You just need a little spark of heat and you can conjure a forest fire. I have her trapped inside that barrier with me to prove a point. That I was in control of her fate, but I didn't abuse that authority to dominate her. No. I gave her a second chance. I gave her a choice to do things right. I showed her benevolence, in which her superiors didn't."

Izanagi scoffed as he twisted the tap and rinsed his wooden ladle. "And what makes you think she won't spit on your kindness?"

"I let her choose which shade of the world is better. If she firmly believes Kokabiel is the solution to her problems, then I wish her good luck." Naruto inhaled his salty noodles, chewed a bit, and swallowed hungrily. "That's the beauty of this world, right? The ability to choose for yourself."

"And you once chose to wage war against gods, angels and demons, _Trihexa-_ san."

Naruto made a muffled choking sound and coughed. "I told you to stop calling me that! If you insist on referring to people with their nicknames, please call me Sage of Six Colours Rainbow or the Sexy Hermit of Mt. Handsome. How about that?"

"I strongly suggest you to start taking things seriously, Naruto."

"Meh." Naruto toyed with the chopsticks between his fingers. "Life is too important for me to take anything seriously."

Izanagi dumped his dirty pot in the sink and scrubbed his kitchenware with a sponge. "The Great War was one of the bloodiest war recorded in the history of all creations. Millions of lives were lost every day. The notion of peace was really a hopeless case. Until one day, a monster came storming into the battlefield, slaughtering and devouring anything that stood in his way. No angels could harm him. No devils could lay a scratch on him. No god could smite him. His fearlessness and ungodly strength made every warmonger who participated in the battle running away in terror."

The old god twisted the water tap off and pulled out his cigar from his mouth. "God saw the consequences of allowing that monster to roam free. I guess God thought the monster would one day rupture the balance of the world. When the war was over, God went to confront the monster with a legion of his best men as escorts. I wasn't there to witness it, but I heard the Grand Canyon was the result of their battle. Everybody thought God had sealed the Beast of Apocalypse away, but we both know that's not entirely true, is it?"

Naruto let out a contented sigh as he dropped his finished bowl of ramen. "Let's drop all the boring talk and get down to business. The soup is too buttery. You can't serve this hideous crap to your customers. Lessen the goddamn butter, old fart."

Izanagi growled. "If the soup is crap, then why the hell did you drink everything?"

The blond snorted. "I'm just making sure nobody gets to eat any of this."

"Ungrateful punk!" The old god crossed his arms and scowled. "What are you going to do now? You can't fight city hall, especially not in your pathetic state. Heaven fears you. Hell hates you. It won't be long before they send their best to hunt you down for sport."

Naruto rest his chin on the base of his balled fist and bit a toothpick. "You just worry about yourself, old man. I know what I'm about. They can come and do their worse. You see, old man, I possess a particular set of skills that make me a nightmare for people like them. Once I find them, I will torture their bodies and break their spirits. I will make them -"

"Found you!"

"AHHHH!" Naruto shrieked aloud in a high-pitch voice and jolted in shock, falling from his seat in a clumsy manner. "W-What? Akeno-chan? H-How the hell did you find me?"

Izanagi stifled his giggle at Naruto's bewildered state. _"I wish I had a camera on me. That picture would be great blackmail material. The Great Beast of Apocalypse screaming like a little girl. Ahhh…"_

Akeno calmed her laboured breaths, tided her dishevelled raven hair and stood with utmost grace before the perturbed blond. "Do you know why I'm here, Uzumaki-san?"

Naruto shook his head, scrambled to his stool, and pouted. "Well obviously you felt the need to exercise your imaginary power over me and punish me for messing with you." The blond swirled in his seat to face the fuming girl and raised a hand in a surrender notion. "It's okay, I understand. I like to punish people too."

Akeno suppressed that chill of excitement tingling underneath her skin and narrowed her eyes. "That's very droll, Uzumaki-san. Laws are established in our society to preserve peace and harmony. It works in schools too. If a student in my class misbehaves, it is my duty to… _discipline_ them."

Naruto noticed the sadistic glee rolling out of her tongue when she mentioned 'discipline' and he arched an amused brow. "I bet you break the laws sometimes."

The statuesque beauty was caught in a trance as she peered at the pair of alluring and soporific blue eyes before her. "…Yes. I knew it was you who set the chicken loose in the teacher's lounge, but I didn't say a word because I enjoy watching those adults squirming and screaming in fear. It… turns me on."

Naruto chuckled, his smug smile never faltered, not even the slightest. "Yeah! It's fun, right? Watching people suffer and whatnot. What a thrill, isn't it?"

When Akeno regained her senses, she was floundering for words and stuttered weakly. "I-I… I didn't say that…"

"It's okay, Akeno-chan. People tend to tell me things. Your secret is safe with me."

The flustered raven-haired girl plopped down on the stool beside the blond and glared heatedly at him. "What did you do to me?"

Naruto glanced at Akeno innocently and asked, "Pardon?"

"You drugged me, didn't you?"

"Nope. People just tell me their secrets because of my good looks. Anyway -" Naruto turned his attention to Izanagi and grinned. "Old man, one bowl of pork ramen for this girl. I bet all the running has really tired her. She deserves the best for her effort."

Akeno blinked and shifted her attention to the old god, who was scratching his chin and studying the girl with curiosity and amusement glinting in his eyes. Akeno however was confounded; she swore she had seen the man somewhere, if the wave of nostalgia she just felt was anything to go by. Shoving her contemplation and doubts aside, Akeno bowed politely and spoke with a soft eloquence. "Thank you."

Izanagi grinned. "Now that's what I called manners. Learn from her, brat."

"Never." Naruto pouted childishly and crossed his arms.

The old god shot the beauty a dry look and said, "My condolence."

"What for?" Akeno arched a brow.

"For having to deal with this brat."

"Oh, you have no idea."

Naruto deadpanned. "Guys, I'm still here."

"As a token of appreciation for taking care of this brat, the ramen is on the house."

"Thank you." Akeno giggled. "It is tough taking care a five-year old whose soul is trapped inside a body of a sixteen-year old."

"Hey! I resent that!"

Izanagi broke into a guffawing frenzy. "I like you, girl! Order as much as you want! The tab is on me!"

-Devil Game-

The evening air was soothing and calm. Naruto expected his esteemed class president to live in an opulent accommodation at a pompous street of novelty, but the street they were walking along was anything but extravagant.

"You don't need to walk me home. I can take care of myself."

"I may be an asshole, but I'm not that kind of asshole who would let a girl walk herself home all by herself." Naruto shivered as a chilling gust swept down and he rubbed his forearm to generate warmth. "And it's cold. A handsome, strong gentleman such as me should be there to offer you a jacket and -"

Akeno looped her arm around Naruto's elbow and pulled him leaned closer to her. "I think you're the one who need a handsome, strong gentleman to offer you a jacket."

The blond pouted. "Don't make it sound gay, Akeno-chan."

She grinned impishly and pressed his nose. "Boop!"

Naruto's brows knitted together in confusion as he touched his nose. "What the hell is that for?"

"That's for making fun of me this afternoon." Akeno cutely scrunched up her nose and exclaimed. "You got off easy with all the teasing and innuendos, Uzumaki-san. I usually make it excruciating for those who tries to defy me."

The blond smiled happily. "Then I'm glad I'm the first to live and survive the tale, huh?"

Akeno playfully punched Naruto's muscular bicep, a small smile crept up her pink lips. "So what did you do after you ran off from class just now?"

"I was cooped up in a sweaty room, copulating with a feisty young woman named Destiny." Naruto grinned saccharinely. "Wanna join?"

"I would love to." The dignified beauty purred.

Naruto quirked a brow. "You have no shame."

"What's that?" Akeno tapped her chin with a slender finger and blinked innocently. "Shame? Why I've never heard of the word."

They both shared a light-hearted guffaw. Naruto had never seen a genuine smile from the gorgeous class president. She always portrayed herself as the dauntless and stunning beauty who had a bewitching smile and a ravishing figure. She was many boys' wet dream and many girls' secret fantasy. In all honesty, Naruto had never seen _this_ side of her.

When they had come to a stop, Naruto glanced up, scratched his scalp and pointed a finger at the isolated shrine situated atop a hill. "Why are we here? Don't tell me you live in that stuffy place."

"Why yes. I'm a Miko. It was my mother's lineage after all."

"Was?"

Akeno winced and the blond caught on. "I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I grew up without knowing who my mom or dad were. I only met my mother once, and it was a very awkward meet."

The beauty veered her attention to the blond and tilted her head in confusion. "Why would I feel better knowing you're an orphan."

"I don't know." Naruto shrugged. "I figured if you knew I'm an orphan, we can relate better."

"Oh?" Akeno leaned forward and caressed his cheek. "Sounds like somebody wants to have an intimate relationship with me."

To Akeno's surprise, Naruto leaned forward too, their lips were mere inches apart. Naruto stared at Akeno with such passion and ferocity that it was starting to make her flustered; the butterflies in her stomach didn't help at all. "I would love to share a relationship with you, but it won't be anything sexual. A friendship will suffice."

"Why is that?" Akeno placed a hand on her curvaceous hip and smiled confidently, her pulchritudinous features radiated a soft glow under the moonlight. "You do know many boys in our school would kill just to have a relationship with me."

Naruto didn't formulate any reply, but Akeno had caught a glimpse of the sorrowful smile that flashed momentarily on his face. The blond took a step back, gave his class president a sluggish wave, and walked away. "Good night, Akeno-chan."

The sound of crickets' chirping pervaded the silence.

Akeno stared quietly at Naruto's retreating form, unable to assess the nauseating puzzle that was Naruto Uzumaki. Akeno had always prided herself for being perspicacious and she was competent at perceiving and peeling off the façade that people wore before her, but none of her tricks worked on the blond. It wasn't his overbearing nature or his swagger that peeved her.

It was his innate charisma to compel people to open up their true self to him that bothered her.

Shaking her thoughts away, Akeno whispered. "Good night, Uzumaki-san."

-Devil Game-

The first thing Naruto did when he entered his measly three-room apartment was to kick his shoes off, down a glass of chilled water, and take a cold shower. When he walked out of his bathroom with a towel wrapped loosely around his waist, he was greeted by his two clones. "Any news for me?"

"Boss, we found their hideout." One of the clones reported. "They took over an abandoned church. Kokabiel is definitely inside. There are five other fallen angels with him too. Your hunch was right after all, sir."

"Great." The original smirked. "Now, we can -"

"Uhh…"

The original deadpanned. "What? Something happened? They found out about you guys spying on them?"

"No sir." The second clone replied hastily, "The feathered friend who was spying on you this afternoon stirred a commotion when she returned to base. We're not sure why, but it ended quite quickly."

Naruto bit his lip and beckoned his clones to leave. They gave their boss a salute before they exploded into smoke. The blond immediately received an onslaught of memory from his clones and he grimaced. "Stupid girl. Why did she go and rile Kokabiel up? Damn it! Kokabiel might have already killed her for treason."

Pacing around in his bedroom, Naruto mused. "Should I go and check on her? I am responsible for meddling with her head. It is only right for me to make sure she isn't dead. Wait. Why would she be dead? Killing her gives Kokabiel no benefit whatsoever. But I can't be too sure about this. If I go and rescue her, a battle with that crafty old scoundrel is inevitable. That means I have to risk disclosing my existence to them. I should just ignore this shit and go back to sleep. It's not my problem anyway. Yup, that's right, not my problem."

The blond nodded with half-assed conviction, climbed to his bed, and threw his blanket over his head.

When he closed his eyes, he saw the fallen angel's wounded form lying on a pool of fresh blood. She was staring pleadingly at him with her haunted eyes, which were filled with hurt and betrayal as she tried to reach out for him, helplessly begging for him to save her. Her beautiful features were haggard and blemished by the stain of her blood, her voice was raspy, her -

"DAMN YOU, NARUTO!" The blond kicked his blanket away and ruffled his golden hair in rage. "Damn you for being such a soft-hearted douchebag!"

* * *

 **Author Note: Please support this story with your kind reviews.  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Highschool DXD and Naruto.**

Pairings:  
1.) NarutoXRias  
2.) NarutoXAkeno  
3.) NarutoXRaynare  
4.) NarutoXSeekvaira  
5.) NarutoXRossweisse  
6.) NarutoXHarem

Please do drop a comment on the reviews. Let me know how you feel.


	2. Saving the Fallen

Kalawarner sat on a dilapidated pew, crossed her slender legs, and bit her nail. Raynare's betrayal had bewildered her, but what Kokabiel did to punish the treacherous fallen angel was monstrous and condemnable. She couldn't serve a tyrant like that.

The oaken door swung open and Dohanseek emerged from the shadows. He closed the door behind him and walked at a nervous pace towards his colleague, sparing a couple of apprehensive glances behind his shoulders. "What is it, Kalawarner?"

"I… I can't do this." Kalawarner hugged her shivering frame and chewed her lower lip. "I can't serve Kokabiel. He's a monster!"

"Silence!" The fallen angel with a top hat scanned the church frantically, ensuring there was no one to eavesdrop on their conversation, turned his attention sharply to Kalawarner, and chided her with a hiss. "Are you out of your mind? You want to stage a coup? After what just happened?"

"Precisely!" Kalawarner retorted. "Don't you get it? Kokabiel is using fear to control us. Did you see how he tortures Raynare? That monster crucified Raynare!"

Dohanseek blew out a seething breath. "You should have expected this to happen the day you signed up for Lord Kokabiel's campaign -"

"I joined Kokabiel and his tour of madness because -" Kalawarner paused and drew her hand into her lap.

The fallen angel arched a brow. "Because?"

Kalawarner looked away and whispered. "Because I love Raynare. Because Raynare believed in that monster and I wanted to be by her side, protecting her."

Dohanseek paced around the room, contemplated his options for a while, before he sniffed his nose with a finger. "Fine. You made your point. Lord Kokabiel's conquest is a fool's game, but we can't do this alone. Stay here. I'll try and see if others are willing to help us."

The fallen angel scurried briskly through the side-aisles and exited the building.

An unnerving silence perforated the unused church. The blue-haired fallen angel glanced up at the stained glass window and studied the pictorial decoration of God with a sorrowful smile. Kalawarner fell from grace because she harboured a forbidden desire for her comrade, who had been through thick and thin with her. Her unrequited love for Raynare may never be reciprocated, and it hurts to know that, but she still wanted her to be happy.

"He's gonna betray you, you know?"

Kalawarner jolted up from her seat and turned around, surveying the empty church wearily as beads of sweat were springing out of her forehead. "W-Who are you? Show yourself!"

A dark silhouette fell from the ceiling joist, landed right beside the startled fallen angel, and wrapped a hand around her slender shoulders. "Have no fear. Batman is here."

Reacting to impulse, Kalawarner materialised her light spear in her grasp, but the dark entity had seized her wrist and spoke in a raspy and intimidating voice. "Someone is gonna get hurt if you swing that thing around carelessly."

Kalawarner struggled to pull free, but the mysterious man had kept a firm lock on her wrist. The fallen angel looked up and saw a pair of cold blue eyes peering at her. "W-Who's going to get hurt?"

The blue eyes blinked, twice. "Me."

Kalawarner almost tripped in her footing. "W-What?"

The shadowy figure exploded into a puff of smoke, surprising the fallen angel. She looked around the rundown church in fright, but her attention was diverted to a mysterious blond standing near the altar. She squint to better discern the man's features. "Who are you?"

Naruto vanished into a golden flash, traversing across the nave of the church in a fraction of a second and materialising his form before Kalawarner, who was paralyzed in trepidation. Gathering her courage, she met his glare with one of her own.

"You seem different from the rest." The blond cupped the fallen angel's chin with gentle fingers and he leaned forward, whispering in a deep, alluring voice. "Tell me, Miss Fallen Angel, what is the one thing that you want to do now?"

Kalawarner realized he had softened his gaze and her own tension slid away, taken over by an overwhelming sense of longing and lust. She looked at his enticing lips with carnal fascination and felt a spike of need. Her heart was pounding hard and the raw desire to taste the enigmatic man's lips was too powerful for her to bear. Kalawarner fidgeted with her fingers and averted her gaze. "I… I want to save Raynare."

Naruto pulled back and beamed. "Good. Glad that we're on the right track here. Now, you and me, we are gonna embark on an adventure. Do you trust me?"

Kalawarner swallowed. "No?"

"I'll take that as a yes." The blond rubbed his hands together and smiled. "I need you to help me do something -"

"W-Wait! Hold up." Kalawarner took a step back and frowned grimly. "This is insane -"

"You want to save your little girlfriend. I want you to save your little girlfriend." Naruto said it matter-of-factly. "It's synergy."

The fallen angel narrowed her eyes. "How do you know about Raynare?"

The blond scratched his scalp sheepishly. "Well, I kinda feel… bad telling her to rethink about siding with an arrogant prick. I guess she gave my words a serious thought and did the right thing. She pulled herself together and decided to leave that obnoxious fool, but her method of departure sure left something to be desired."

"So, it was you who manipulated her?" Kalawarner thrust a finger at Naruto's chest and spat venomously. "You made her betrayed Kokabiel! She was tortured and crucified because of you!"

"Whoa, easy there tiger." Naruto raised both hands in a surrender notion. "I didn't make her do anything. I gave her some pointers in life. She took them and reconsidered her priorities very seriously. I'm very glad she actually realised working with a two-face douchebag like Kokabiel is gonna cost her."

Kalawarner was unconvinced as she folded her arms and quirked a brow.

The blond rolled his eyes and heaved out an exhausted sigh. "Alright, let me take a wild guess here. Kokabiel is here to instigate a war." Naruto caught on the fallen angel's stunned expression and pointed a finger-gun gesture at her. "Guess that's a bingo for me. Now, you're probably wondering how I know. Well, it's kinda obvious when you put two and two together. This city is under the protection of two noble family of hell. Even a cupid needs a permit to wander around. It isn't a secret that Kokabiel is a war enthusiast; that means a belligerent schemer like him is only here for one reason: murder the heiresses of the noble clans."

Naruto smirked as Kalawarner digested his words timorously. "But if Kokabiel were to kill the heiresses by himself, people would know your kind is behind all this. After all, it isn't really rocket science for others to know if the flesh wound is caused by a light-based weapon. So, he decided to manipulate the church and order all the corrupted priests he could find to launch a man-hunt for those heiresses. If the church is successful, heaven will be blamed and the treaty will be revoked. We both know what comes after that."

"H-How did you know so much -" The fallen angel stared dubiously at the blond. "Wait, you sound as if you know Kokabiel personally."

Naruto shrugged. "Meh. Whether I know him or not doesn't really matters here. What really matters is that your girlfriend knows she has been deceived by Kokabiel and she is unwilling to be his accomplice."

"So why do you care?"

The blond floundered for words and blinked.

"I… don't." He lied. "But I really don't want her blood to be on my hands. After all, this whole thing started because of me."

Kalawarner grimaced, unsure of what she should do. Part of her wanted to believe the suspicious blond, but the other part told her that there was a possibility that he might just be a spy sent by Kokabiel to test her loyalty. The blue-haired fallen angel looked at the expressionless blond and gritted her teeth. "How do I know you're not lying?"

"You don't." Naruto crossed his hands. "You have two options. Fight this rebellion of yours alone and die. Your girlfriend will die too and it will really be a tragic romance. Or, accept my offer and let me handle Kokabiel."

"You? You want to handle Kokabiel" Kokabiel scoffed. "Are you telling me that you want to fight Kokabiel? One of the Leaders of the Grigori? A former commander of the heavenly host who once ruled over more than three hundred thousand soldiers? Do you even have any idea what you're up against? Where do you get the nerve?"

The blond deadpanned. "Look, the offer is on the table. Quit yapping and start dealing. Time is money and you're wasting both of it."

Kalawarner paused, bit her nail, and shifted anxiously.

Naruto rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. "Do you love her?"

The fallen angel's head shot up and stuttered. "I-I…"

"Do you?"

Kalawarner looked away and said quietly, "I do."

"Good. Now, here's the plan -"

-Devil Game-

Kokabiel marched towards the church with his henchmen trailing behind closely. Raynare's unexpected betrayal hadn't really made his plan awry, but the sudden lack of manpower to gather the Excalibur infuriated him, and now Kalawarner wanted to desert. God, his luck was atrocious. Dohanseek kicked open the door, albeit too eagerly, expecting Kalawarner to be cooped up in the tenebrous church, waiting with false-hope that help would come.

Much to their surprise, the church was empty.

Kokabiel nursed his forehead and glowered at a shrinking Dohanseek. "Well?"

"Uhh… I-I swear she said -"

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

Things escalated from zero to hundred after that.

A man had just flying-kicked through the church's stained glass, landed on the altar, and struck a strong-man pose. The intruder's dramatic entrance had stunned the fallen angels and petrified the armed priests. It took them a few seconds to register what had happened and another few seconds to react.

"How dare you trespass this holy sanctuary!" Freed Sellzen narrowed his eyes and drawled contemptuously. "Who are you?"

"Me?" Naruto jerked his thumb at his face and a sinister grin crept up his lips. "I'm your Lord and Saviour, Sexy Hermit of Mt. Handsome!"

"You insolent quim! You think you can barge into our territory and make a fool out of us?" Freed pulled out a gun from his cloak and thrust it at the blond. "I will make you taste divine lead from my divine gun! Die, fool! Die, die, die!"

BANG!

Freed blew the smoke off the nozzle of his gun and chortled manically. "The deed is done! The fool has received his rightful punishment! This holy priest has made the sinner knows his place and -"

"Not quite, Freed." Kokabiel growled. "You have yet to dispose of that man."

When Freed's eyes drifted to the intruder, his jaw dropped. The blond had caught the bullet between his teeth, and to Freed's consternation, he had bitten down the metal like it was a piece of marshmallow and spat out the content in disgust. "Your divine lead doesn't taste divine at all."

"This is blasphemy, Sexy Hermit!" Freed shrieked.

"Naw, man." Naruto grinned. "No blasphemy. Just badassery and me being naturally awesome."

The blond let out a high-pitch war cry, reared his fist, and charged at Freed, as if taunting the exorcist to do the same, and same the exorcist did. When their punches were about to connect, Naruto sidestepped his opponent's impulsive strike with dexterous precision, manifested a black kunai in his hand, and swung the blade across the exorcist's neck in one fluid motion.

Freed's head fell on the ground in a loud thud and his beheaded body collapsed right beside the blond.

"He just got wrecked." Naruto did a sturgeon face. "So… who wants to be next?"

The church burst into an uproar.

"H-He is the Devil!"

The blond growled. "Me? The Devil? Oh, that's rich coming from an old bag of bones molesting little kids. Are you even hearing yourself -"

"Did you see how he murders Freed in cold blood? He's the messenger of Satan!"

The blond pinched his nose. "Technically he tried to kill me -"

"He's a freak!"

"Uhh… not sure if I should take that as a compliment -"

"The Devil has sent his killer!"

"Well -"

"The apocalypse is upon us!"

"What?"

"We must stake his heart and feed him with holy water!"

"Just shut up, will ya?"

"Son of whore!"

"You guys are still not shutting up."

"The Christ compels you -"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Naruto exclaimed as his face was contorted with frustration and rage. "I want some goddamn inside voice up in this hellhole or I swear -" He pointed a finger at Valper. "I'm gonna sew your mouth onto his anus -" He shifted his aim to the exorcist standing right beside the bespectacled man. "And your mouth sow onto his anus -" His finger redirected to Dohnaseek. "And you, feathered bitch, drew the short stick because I will shove your head up into Kokabiel's minuscule asshole and make you eat shit for the rest of your miserable life!"

Kokabiel stood forward, his eyelid twitched vigorously. "You sound like you know me. Who are you and why are you standing in my way? Where is Kalawarner?"

Naruto raised one finger. "Firstly, I don't know you, but I heard about how much of a douche you are." He raised another finger. "Secondly, I am Mister None of Your Fucking Business." He raised three fingers in total. "Thirdly, I stood in your way because I know what you are trying to do and if you succeed in what you are about to do, many people will die and that annoys me." He raised one more finger. "And lastly, I have no idea where she is."

"But I didn't say Kalawarner is a woman."

Naruto paused for a moment, blinked, and cursed, "Dang it."

Kokabiel eyed the exorcist standing beside him and jerked his chin at Naruto's direction, signalling his henchman to attack. The exorcist nodded hastily, bolted towards the distracted blond, and unsheathed his sword, but before he could pulled out his weapon, Naruto had caught his wrist.

The blond jabbed with a finger at the exorcist's chest and a wicked grin played about his lips. The exorcist gasped in fright and glanced down instinctively, only to be struck by a swift flick of Naruto's finger and was sent flying through the ceiling, his screams of terror slowly faded into the night.

The blond looked up at the hole on the ceiling, admiring his handiwork.

The exorcists and the fallen angels did the same, appalled by what the intruder had just did.

The blond lowered his gaze.

The exorcists and the fallen angels lowered theirs, except their eyes were widened in horror and their mouths were hanging in shock.

Licking his lips, Naruto raised the same finger that struck the unfortunate exorcist and smirked predatorily. "Alright, who's up for my triple-kill?"

Naruto's eyes went left and right, surveying the gaping mass, before he disappeared and a gust of rampant wind swept through the church. In split-seconds, he reappeared right before a trembling Valper. "Quick question. If a five foot three ogre want to bend you over real quick and give you a good lovin', would you take it up the front or the back?"

"Er…"

"Wrong answer." Naruto backhanded Valper across the jaw with such force that the priest's mandible popped out of his skull. The fallen angels and their minions flinched in apprehension at the sheer brutality and cold indifference the remorseless intruder had displayed. The blond made no attempt to wipe the blood smear off his face and the smugness of his smile seemed to widen disturbingly. "Four down. Three more to go. "

"Stop this debauchery this instance!" Kokabiel roared. "How dare you barge into my territory, kill my servants, and taunt us! Do you know who I am?"

Naruto arched a brow. "On a scale of one to I-don't-give-a-damn, how far do you think I'll rate you?"

"You mewling nobody!" An exorcist dashed towards the unfazed blond and wiped out his gun. "How dare you- Argh!"

With impossible speed, Naruto had blitzed forward in a vibrant flash and appeared before the berserker of an exorcist. His hand shot forward like a blur and seized his victim's throat in a suffocating chokehold. "Your turn to answer me a question. If I were to put my finger into your bum-hole and wiggle it around, what is the first thing that comes to mind?"

"Argh! Urh! Ahhh!" The exorcist sputtered out as he clawed at his neck, unable to speak properly.

"Wrong answer again!" Naruto did not hesitate to pierce his fist through the exorcist's chest with a cherry smile. He tossed the mutilated corpse aside like throwing dirty laundry. His deranged eyes drifted to a mortified Dohanseek and he smiled cheerfully. "Don't worry, he died doing what he loves." The blond let out a choked guffaw. "Getting stabbed in the chest."

Dohanseek was visibly shaken as he witnessed the barbaric carnage before him. The blond was ruthless and borderline lunatic. The fallen angel trembled, and it intensified when the murderous blond started stalking towards him. "Tell me, Bird- _chan_ , when your goons tortured and murdered innocent people, were you laughing your ass off? You have permitted how many of your underlings to defile and rape the innocent? How many lives were ruined? Ten? Hundred? Thousands?"

The fallen angel took a retreating step and unconsciously swallowed his consternation down his throat. "I-I don't need to tell you -"

"You know what they say." Naruto twirled his blood-soaked kunai. "What goes around, comes around."

"Hey -"

"Do you know why I like using daggers and kunai, Bird-chan? I can easily slaughter you all with some big, flashy explosions, but I choose not to. Wanna know why?" The blond stopped in his strides when Dohanseek was backed up to a wall.

"H-Hold up -"

"You see -" Naruto eyed his ebony blade with twisted glee; the blond exuded a tsunami of bloodlust that smothered the fallen angel, squeezing his lungs and making breathing unbearable. "Doing the big, flashy things make people die too quick. It's boring if I can't see how my victims scream and writhe in agony as they die slowly and painfully. But with a kunai, I can see all sorts of emotions in their dying moment."

Dohanseek swallowed hard as he felt his knees wobbled. "M-Mercy -"

"Did you give it to those who beg you for it?" Naruto grinned. "I guess not."

"Y-You're a monst -" Dohanseek didn't even have the time to process what had happened as he sank into his knees, a black kunai plunged deep into his eye socket, disintegrating his body in the process.

"That weapon!" Kokabiel's eyes were enlarged. He heard about legends of a set of nefarious weapon forged from eternal darkness, said to possess the power to annihilate anything in the universe, including God itself. The existence of the weapon was concealed by conspiracy and mystery, thus it was never considered as a Longinus, but a myth. "It couldn't be. They're just fairy tales!"

Naruto cocked a brow. "What is? This?"

The blond swung his kunai recklessly as if he was fiddling with a toy.

Kokabiel growled and shot the blond a threatening look. "I studied each and every single Longinus there is in this world. There is no record of any weapons that could vaporise fallen angels like that!"

"Doesn't matter. You should start worrying about what I'm about to do to you." Naruto smiled innocently, his outfit was stained with blotches of blood and he looked very much like a psychopathic murderer from a B-Grade horror flick. "I'll be nice and let you choose. Right or left?"

"Pardon?"

"You want me to chop your right nipple off or do you prefer the left gone?" Naruto flailed his hands dramatically. "Because I know you won't release the girl so easily and I don't have time to waste. My best bet is to make you suffer excruciating pain so you will commit to my demands. So… right or left nipple?"

As if on cue, a clone of Naruto had materialised behind Kokabiel and locked the fallen angel with a bear-hug from behind. The original stalked towards Kokabiel, tore away the fallen angel's cloak, and exposed his bare chest. Kokabiel tried to struggle, but he was horrified and astonished to know that his enhanced strength could not break the homicidal clone's unyielding hold. "RIGHT OR LEFT NIPPLE? TELL ME NOW OR I'LL DECIDE IT MYSELF!"

"You're insane! You think you can beat me? Kokabiel the Star of God?"

"Right by default then." The original swung his kunai.

Kokabiel's scream filled the church.

Naruto clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Aww, don't be a baby, _Honey Stars_. You just lost your _left_ nipple, that's all. Now, tell me, where is she?"

"Why? What is that whore to you? Your fuck-slave? Huh? Are you the reason why that third-rate slut betrayed me?"

"You are a very rude person, _Kokabiel-san_." Naruto smiled saccharinely. "I think it is only right if I punish your body. Did I mention how much I love punishing people like you?"

"What do you know about us, huh? Our Father cast us out because we defied him once. Is that even a fitting punishment? What did we ever do wrong? Do you even know what our true purpose is? Do you think Azazel is a suitable leader to guide us, the fallen angels, to a brighter future? I remembered Shemhazai once said that he promises peace to us, but on what hubris does he justify his claims? Is that our true nature? To mingle with those despicable devils and self-righteous angels? To live amongst those filthy humans and conform to their pathetic society?"

Naruto waved his kunai laxly. "I really want to see things from your perspective, but I can't get my head that far up my ass."

"You ignorant bastard!" Kokabiel spat indignantly. "You know nothing about this universe! We fallen angels are the pinnacle of all creations! We are supposed to be the sovereigns of this world!"

The blond snapped his fingers and thumb together rapidly. "All I'm hearing from you is, 'Blah, blah, blah, I'm a Grade A douchebag with a sore vagina.' If you really want to prove that your kind is superior, there are many ways to go about it. For one, you can try revising and enforcing a better policy with the other factions. You can form a magical school with all the crazy in it, purposely sabotage the grade of the students from other factions, and make the fallen angels the elites. Hell, go nuts and enter the politics of the underworld. There are plenty of ways to do it, yet you chose to stage a war. It's not just counterproductive, but a whole new mountain of stupid."

"Enough!" A hailstorm of light spears rained down upon Naruto, startling him. He retreated with a backflip, his feet slid a few metres back, and he grunted as blood dripped out from the edge of his lips. He grabbed the light spear protruding from his shoulder, crushed it into a mass of glowing glitters, and glared with umbrage at Kokabiel, who had decapitated his clone.

 _ **"The fuck do you think you're doing, kit? I let my eyes off you for one moment and you nearly got your ass iced by some punk-ass angel?"**_

 _"Kurama?"_ Naruto gritted his teeth and applied pressure on the gaping hole in his shoulder. _"This is not the time -"_  
 **  
** _ **"How many times do I have to tell you? Stay the fuck away from shits like this! You think it's easy to stitch a hole in your body? Ya wanna come down here and do it yourself?"**_

 _"I don't want to argue with you about this in the middle of a fight! Just do the damn healing!"_

 _ **"I'm trying, bitch! We're not the same like how we used to be! After that ass whooping we got from that halo-wearing freak, our powers went from uber awesome to uber shit. Glad we staked that punk though."**_ **  
**  
 _"Look, I'm sorry, alright? But I really don't want the girl to die because of something I said."_

Naruto could hear the long, heavy sigh coming from Kurama.

 _ **"We are going to have a long talk about your conscience after this. Trust me, one of these days, we're gonna die because someone wants to play prince charming."**_ **  
**  
 _"Thanks, buddy."_

 _ **"Hey, kit."**_

 _"Yeah?"_

 _ **"You made the right choice."**_

Naruto allowed a smile of gratitude to grace his lips before it stretched into a cruel smirk. "Alright, you wanna play? I like that. Let's play. Winner gets to eat the loser's heart, okay?"

Kokabiel blanched in terror as Naruto's outburst of killing intent detonated a shockwave that blast the wooden walls and pews into splinters. For a moment, the fallen angel swore he was staring down the incarnation of death. "W-What are you?"

"I told you, didn't I?" Naruto smirk malevolently. "I am Sexy Hermit of Mt. Handsome and I'm coming for that right nipple of yours."

"You imbecile!" Kokabiel launched a volley of light spears at the blond, who had already vanished into burst of golden light. The fallen angel swung his spear and it clashed against Naruto's black kunai in a loud clang. "You may be fast, but I'm the fastest angel in heaven! You can't match my speed, fool! I will make you know your place as I- ARHHHHH!"

Two clones dashed towards the fallen angel in an X formation, blindsiding him and landing deep cuts across his chest. Kokabiel levitated a few metres backwards, coughing out globs of red liquid. One of the clones dropped a lump of flesh and let out a childish giggle. "Oh, snap. There goes the right nipple. Now, you're officially nipple-less. Kokabiel the Nipple-Less. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

Kokabiel glanced down at his bloodied chest and let out an aggravated shriek. "You fool! I'll make you pay!"

Channelling unholy energy into his body, the fallen angel soared towards the blond.

Naruto pumped tremendous chakra into his feet and charged at Kokabiel with unfathomable speed.

There were sparkles and lightning erupting spontaneously throughout the derelict church; they were moving so fast that an untrained eyes would never pick up on their movements.

Kokabiel clenched his jaw and growled. The Sexy Hermit unleashed a barrage of rapid strikes at Kokabiel's limbs, disrupting the fallen angel's fighting pace. It was as if the blond had a heightened clairvoyance to predict what Kokabiel would do. The fallen angel was so occupied deflecting his opponent's onslaught that he didn't realise one of the clones had materialised above him. When he glanced up, an axe-kick had already descended upon him, pummelling him down into the concrete floor.

Naruto was relentless, diving down with lightning speed and smashing Kokabiel with a devastating drop-kick that sent the entire church rumbling thunderously. The fallen angel vomited a litre of blood as he felt his ribs shattered from the impact. Kokabiel's body illuminated a brilliant glow before he disappeared, leaving a confounded blond staring at the centre of a crater.

"You dare mock me? Me?"

Naruto snapped his attention to his back and groaned. The injured Kokabiel had his claws around a quivering Raynare's neck. The girl's paper white skin was blemished with dried blood, her lips were cracked, and her bruised neck showed signs of being throttled. Salty tears streamed along the curvature of her bang-up cheek as she gave Naruto a pleading look.

 _"Help me."_ She mouthed silently.

Naruto straightened his shoulders and gazed with apathy at Kokabiel. "If you are so great like you claimed to be, then don't hide behind a helpless girl and fight me like a man."

Kokabiel scoffed. "You think I'll fall for that?"

Naruto lifted one eyebrow and crossed his arms, a triumphant grin playing about his lips. "Let me get this straight. I don't receive threats. I make them."

"Oh yeah? How are you going to make your threats when I have your precious whore in my hand?"

"He's not going to make them." Kalawarner stood behind Kokabiel, a light dagger in her hand. "I am."

Kokabiel grunted as a blade was plunged into his back. "Kalawarner, you -"

In the midst of rage and frustration, Kokabiel hastily aimed his palm at Raynare and fired a beam of light. Much to Naruto and Kalawarner's consternation, Raynare sank into her knees, a burnt hole sported on her chest and blood was gushing out of her wound. Kalawarner's face contorted with distraught and terror as she ran towards Raynare, catching her falling body in her arms.

Naruto morphed into a golden thunderbolt, sped towards Kokabiel, and delivered a clean slash across the fallen angel's throat with his black kunai.

"E-Even if you kill me…" Kokabiel made a choking sound and growled. "More will come. And t-they will kill you! M-My ideal… is indestructible!"

Naruto closed his palm and shattered his weapon into dust. "If you want to kill me, you have to bring an army. No, better yet. Bring your whole kingdom with you."

Kokabiel collapsed to his knees and a hollow chuckle escape his mouth. "You and I… we are very similar. We both wanted the same thing, don't we? A paradise… where we can l-live without prejudice… without fear. A-Am I not right, Trihexa?"

The blond narrowed his eyes and spun around to face the fallen angel's back. "How did you know?"

"I… had the honour to witness your battle with father. T-That weapon… that impossible speed… There is only one entity in this universe who is capable of those things. B-Back then, you were a fearsome monster." Kokabiel drawled tiredly as his blood pooled beneath his feet. "The very mention of your name strikes fear into the hearts of any angels and devils. Half of the factions hated you. The other half worshipped your talent for destruction. I h-happen to be one who looked up to you, Trihexa."

"So, you enjoy killing, just like me. Is that why you believe we are both similar?"

The fallen angel smirked weakly. "I-I'm one step… closer ahead you. I actually tried to start where you left off. By restarting that dreadful war… angels and demons will fall. The world will be ruled by darkness. The fallen will reign!"

"You're right." Naruto ambled casually towards Kokabiel with a schooled expression. "You and I are similar. We both loves chaos. We both enjoy destruction. But there is one little thing that set us apart."

"You can stop with your patronising, you hypocrite!" Kokabiel coughed and blood splattered on the cold cemented floor.

The blond stopped a few inches away from the fallen angel. "Wanna know what makes me so different from you? Remorse. I know how much it hurts for someone to take away your loved ones. I know I should save that kind-hearted girl, despite knowing she is a fallen angel. I know this world lacks kindness and I happen to have the power to change that. But what about you? Did you attempt to repent for the wrongs you have wrought?"

"You can stop painting yourself as a saint, Trihexa!" Kokabiel hissed. "A-At the end of the day… you and I are trash!"

"You're right. I am a trash." Naruto glared coldly at the fallen angel, who stiffened fearfully, frightened by the power of Naruto's gaze. "But I'm a trash who have a conscience. You, on the other hand, are just a trash who have nobody around you who you could trust. You eat when you desire. You kill when you desire. Does that not sound familiar to you?"

Kokabiel growled.

"That's right. You're no different from a dog. No. Calling you a dog is derogatory to all canines. You're worse than animals. Animals will not instigate meaningless wars for the sake of it. Animals will not go off the deep end just to make others suffer. You are just… a dirt that needs to be erased." Naruto turned around, hid his fists in his pockets, and walked away. "And now, you will die a vain death."

Kokabiel let out one last howl before his body was pulverised into nothingness.

Kalawarner was hugging Raynare's lifeless body, rocking back and forth.

Naruto knelt beside the fallen angels and gave them a look of sorrow and empathy.

"Y-You can save her, can't you? You can do anything, right? P-Please!" Kalawarner choked in her sobs. "I'll do anything! Please don't take away my reason to live!"

Naruto looked away reluctantly. "I…"

"I'll do anything! If you desire my flesh, I'll give it to you! I'll be your woman, as long as you save Raynare! So, please!" The fallen angel wailed uncontrollably. "Please don't give up on her! Please save her! I'm begging you! Please!"

Naruto let out an exhausted sigh and closed his eyes. _"Kurama, I need your help."_

 _ **"I'm not gonna help you kill yourself!"**_  
 _  
"Goddamn it! This is not the time for this! Just do it!"_  
 _ **  
"That puny pot of chakra that I preserved for you as your life force isn't supposed to be used to save others! You use that pint-sized load of chakra and you're dead!"  
**_  
 _"This is our best shot, Kurama! I can't let her die!"_

 _ **"Your best shot! Not ours. I'm not gonna let you keel over dead just because you want to save some nobody! Who knows what kind of sick shit she has done when she was still a feathered meat-sack. For all I know, she might be a fucking serial-killer. This is final, Naruto. If you really want to save her, go get some other motherfucker to do it because I sure as hell won't!"**_

Naruto took in a deep breath to calm his mind and closed his eyes. _"This is my life, Kurama. I decide whether I die or not."_

 _ **"So? You want me to throw your life away? Just like that? Huh?"**_

 _"I never have a life to begin with, Kurama! My family and friends are all dead, Kurama! They are all… dead."_

 _ **"…I'm not dead yet."**_

Naruto sighed. _"Look, if I died, you will be freed. I should have died long ago and if my death can help save someone's life, I'll do it in a heartbeat."_

 _ **"I should have died too. We both know that."**_

 _"We are stuck in this world because of me."_

 _ **"I helped you get here. I could have stopped you, but I chose not to, and I'll be damned if I let you die!"**_

 _"Sometimes, you have to do the right thing and -"_

 _ **"I don't care about doing the right thing! I don't even care what happens to all this insects! I'm not giving you up!"**_

 _"Stop arguing and just do it."_

 _ **"What kind of damage was done to you, huh? You cared about those around you, but you refused to form any sort of relationship with them. I bet you were lying when you told that Akeno-girl that you wanted to be her friend, because deep down you're afraid. You're afraid of losing all of them!"**_

 _"That's right, Kurama. I'm a coward. I'm not just afraid of losing them, I'm afraid of being around them! People who get close to me die!"_

 _ **"You weren't a coward when we first acknowledged each other. You were a man who believed in the importance of fighting for what's right. You were a man who would fight the odds head-on! Let's be honest, kit. Saving this girl is just an excuse for you to find a reason to die!"**_

 _"This conversation is over. I'm ordering you to do it."_

 _ **"I'm not -"**_

"LISTEN TO ME, KURAMA! I'M GIVING YOU THE GREEN LIGHT TO KILL ME SO JUST DO IT!"

 _ **"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHAT LIGHT YOU GAVE ME, BRAT! YOU DON'T FUCKING COME IN HERE AND GIVE ME AN ORDER LIKE THAT!"**_

Naruto balled his fists and took in a deep breath, calming himself. _"I look up to you like a father that I never had, Kurama."  
_ _ **  
"And I see you as my own child. I practically watched you grew up, kit. So don't make me do this."**_

 _"It's not your decision to make."_

 _ **"…fine. But I have a condition."**_

"What is it?"

 _ **"If you survived this shit, I want you to open your heart to someone."**_

"W-What?"

 _ **"I don't care who. If you survive this crap, I want you to live like a human."**_

"Kurama, I -"

 _ **"That's the deal, kit."**_

 _"…I will try."_

 _ **"Do or don't. There is no try, kit! I want you to promise me! Promise me that you will live!"**_  
 _  
"Kura -"_  
 _ **  
"Promise me!"**_

* * *

 **Author Note: I can't believe this! I got over 200 reviews in less than two days upon the release of chapter 1. Thank you guys for liking this story so much! I really hope I can continue to write this well for you guys. I hope you can continue to support this story with your kind reviews.**

Pairings:  
1.) NarutoXRias (I have received mixed reviews from this.)  
2.) NarutoXAkeno (Many people seems to favour this couple)  
3.) NarutoXRaynare  
4.) NarutoXKalawarner  
5.) NarutoXRossweisse  
6.) NarutoXSeekvaira  
7.) NarutoXHarem

Please drop a comment on the reviews. Let me know how you feel. I look forward reading your reviews.


	3. Fears and Inner Demons

_"I promised."_

Naruto went and pulled a Jesus in front of a gaping Kalawarner, who couldn't fathom how the mysterious ninja-blond managed to heal an unhealable wound with his green-glowing palm. Like magic, Raynare's blood-coagulated injuries stitched itself together, leaving no traces of scar tissue.

She looked up at the blond with admiration glowing from her eyes. "F-Father… is that you?"

Naruto resisted the urge to topple on the floor and cry. "F-Father? Do I look that old to you? And the answer is no! I'm not your father."

"B-But you -"

"She'll be fine." Naruto wiped the sweat from his forehead, wrestled himself to his full height, and limbered up his sore arms. "Now go."

Kalawarner inspected Raynare's bare chest and a sparkle of happiness glinted in her teary eyes. "T-Thank you."

"Treat me lunch someday if you want to repay me." Naruto scratched the back of his head and yawned.

Kalawarner wiped the tears from her bloodshot eyes and smiled weakly. "C-Can I at least have your name? I'm Kalawarner. This is Raynare."

The blond glanced down at the raven-haired fallen angel's unconscious form, hesitated for a minute, and sighed. "Naruto."

-Devil Game-

Naruto despised night strolls. It made him think, and if there was one thing Naruto hated, it was thinking. It was already three-thirty in the morning and he had class tomorrow. The blond noticed a distortion in space near an alleyway and grunted out in annoyance. A demonic presence, and a strong one at that, invaded the vicinity. He let out a long, exhausted sigh and deadpanned. "Ain't no rest for the wicked, huh"

Ajuka Beelzebub emerged from the portal, a frown plastered on his face. "Our conversation is long overdue, Trihexa-dono."

Naruto slid his hands into his pocket and stared at one of the Four Great Satan with nonchalance. "Yes. I believe so. I have been dying to know something."

The blond pointed a finger at Ajuka's hair and snickered. "Is that natural? Because green sure ain't a natural colour to me."

The side of Ajuka's lip twitched. "I believe we have more important -"

"No, really. Is that your natural colour? If I don't have an answer, I won't be able to sleep peacefully at night. I will twist and turn on my bed, trying to figure out the answer and -"

"It is a natural colour, alright?" The Lord Beelzebub huffed. "You got your answer. Now, we -"

"But why though?" Naruto arched a brow and stared at a very unamused Ajuka innocently. "It makes no sense. I mean, unless it's inheri -"

"Yes, it is. Trihexa-dono, we -"

"From daddy or mommy?"

"It doesn't matter!" Ajuka retorted with clenched teeth.

"It does. Please answer."

"My father! Trihex -"

"Your daddy did it with magic or -"

"Trihexa-dono!"

"Did your mommy do the same thing with her hair too? You know? Blending in with the family and whatnot."

"Trihexa -"

Naruto pointed a finger at Ajuka's crotch and grinned. "There green too?"

"Tri -"

"Tell me, please."

"- Hexa -"

"I'll take that as a yes. Great choice, by the way. Very sexy. Does it get you laid?"

"Trihexa!" Ajuka hissed.

"Alright. Next question. Your daddy's crotch green too?"

"NARUTO UZUMAKI!"

Naruto's teasing grin dropped a little. "Ah! There we go. It's not hard to call people by their name, is it? We can finally talk like civil adults now. I hope you will stop calling me that though. It is much more of an insult than a title to me."

Ajuka loosened his collar so he could take a deep breath before he regained his composure. "Trihe -"

"Green -"

"Naruto-dono." Ajuka corrected hastily. "We need to discuss this pressing issue urgently. Please stop with the antics."

"Not until you stop calling me that."

The Lord of Beelzebub conceded with a deep sigh. "Fine. Naruto-dono, I apologise for my transgression. Old habits die hard. Now, can we get on with business?"

"Sure. Summarize whatever you want to say in less than two sentences. It's almost four in the morning and I really want to catch some sleep. I have class at seven and if I don't go back to my bedroom by four-thirty, oh boy, I'm gonna be in big, big trouble. And if I'm in big, big trouble, my beautiful and sexy class president will find a million excuses to make me pole-dance -"

"The Khaos Brigade is on the move."

Naruto arched a brow. "And that is my problem -" The blond gasped and pressed a hand on his mouth. "Oh, wait. That isn't my problem."

"Ophis -"

"Ophis is an annoying and childish brat who is pulling out a great, big temper tantrum because an overgrown lizard is infesting her self-proclaimed home. Last I checked, the dimensional gap belongs to no one. She is just too chicken shit to fight for her territory. I will never waste my time dealing with kids like her." Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Still, I'm pretty sure she is not dumb enough to poke around too much when I'm around. So this city is safe. Now, can we end this conversation? I really don't want to get in trouble with my class president."

Ajuka shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "This city is safe only if you're around. If you're not, she will invade it and make it her turf. Don't forget, this place is under the care of the Grem -"

"Honestly, I don't care. As long as you guys play your part and ensure a war of cataclysmic proportion between three gangs of egotistical and petty children never happen, I will play my part and stay in the shadows for the rest of eternity."

"Can't you see it? I am doing my best, Naruto-dono! The only reason why the three factions aren't slitting each other's throats is because of the treaty." Ajuka shook his head and placed his hands on his hip. "I, too, desired only peace. We already acquired that, despite it being so fragile, it is still something. I am intending to preserve that something, but I am only one person. We need your help on this one, Naruto-dono."

Naruto sighed. "You know the price to pay for my services, right?"

The Lord of Beelzebub sighed and nodded. "I will prepare for the Ramen Feast, as long as you offer your hand on this case."

"Make it three Ramen Feast and one favour. I will call on the favour when I need it."

"B-But -"

Naruto spun around abruptly and waved a hand. "Deal's off. Bye -"

"Wait!"

The shadow underneath Naruto's bangs concealed the conniving grin tugged at his lips. _"Hook, line and sinker!"_

Ajuka sighed. "Fine. Have it your way." The Lord of Beelzebub gave Naruto a curious look and queried, "By the way, what happened to you? Why is your shirt drenched in… red?"

Naruto glanced down and studied his ruined clothes before he looked up with a smile. "Oh, this? I fell into a giant pot of tomato juice."

Unbeknownst to the blond, a black cat perched on a tree branch had been observing him intently.

-Devil Game-

Morning class was horrid. It was raining, the sky was dark, the classroom felt stuffy, the air was humid, and Naruto wasn't at home sleeping till the sun set. The blond scanned the classroom predatorily, trying to pick up on something interesting to do, like pranking the shit out of an unfortunate soul.

 _ **"Hey, kit!"**_

Naruto jolted from his seat, earning him a few startled and nervous gazes from the students around him; they were anticipating something melodramatic to happen and was relieved when the blond was surprisingly docile. _"Can you give me a warning next time you decide to talk out of the blue."_

 _ **"How's life?"**_

 _"Speaking about life, why am I not six feet under yet?"_

 _ **"I sacrificed a portion of my own life energy to help you."**_

Naruto stood up and shrieked aloud. "YOU DID WHAT?"

The whole class snapped their attention fearfully at the babbling blond, even the teacher was trembling. They knew about the blond being a schizophrenic maniac, if his random outburst was anything to go by, but usually those outburst would ramify into drastic pranks. Some students had picked up indications of Naruto's imminent mischief.

If he smiled his evilest smile in the middle of the class, it's because shit was about to get real. If he laughed cruelly, it's because shit already got real.

 _ **"Calm the fuck down."**_

 _"It's my fault. I got you into this mess and -"_

 _ **"Don't go all angst on me. I gave up my life energy because I believe you're doing the right thing."**_

 _"Kurama, for what it's worth, I'm sorry."  
_  
 _ **"I can't watch you die, can I? Don't worry. As long as you don't get into any trouble, we'll be fine. Since our powers are sealed away, it will take a few months for us to regenerate our chakras though. That life energy of ours… well let's just say we have given them up for charity. Until then, I couldn't emphasize this any more than I have to, stay the fuck away from shit because there won't be a next time!"**_

 _"Hey! What did I say? Shit finds me every single time, okay? I'm a victim myself!"_ Naruto sat down, oblivious that there were over twenty pair of apprehensive eyes monitoring his every movement.

 _ **"By the way, I want to ask you something."**_

 _"Yeah?"_

 _ **"You see that pretty boy on your eight o'clock?"**_

 _"You mean Kiba? What about him?"_

 _ **"Have you noticed he never ever accepts any dates from cute girls? Not even once. I mean I'll understand if he has high standards, but if you constantly reject virgin pussies like he does, then I'm sorry to say but something is definitely wrong. I mean those girls are throwing themselves at him and he outright rejects them. If he isn't gay, I don't know what is."**_

 _"Hmm…"_ The blond stroked his chin.

"Hey, Kiba!" Naruto rested his legs on his desks and crossed his arms, his brows furrowed contemplatively. "You gay?"

There was a stilted silence.

The students in the classroom pondered for a while.

They turned their head in the direction of one gaping Kiba Yuuto.

Akeno palmed her face and shook her head.

"W-What?"

"I mean, you don't respond to any girls' advances, you're too pretty to be a boy, and you obviously put too much shampoo on your hair, it really makes me wonder if you're playing on the other side of the team." Naruto shook his head and sighed. "It's okay though. I won't judge."

"W-What? Where is this coming from? I am not -"

"Okay." Naruto removed his legs from his desk, leaned forward, and interlocked his fingers together, his expression solemn. "But what if - even though you think that it is untrue - what if you really like men?"

"I'm telling you I'm not-"

"Why so defensive?"

Kiba was about to lunge at the smiling blond when Akeno intervened. She stood before the irate pretty boy and smiled kindly. "Calm down, Kiba-kun. I'll handle that rascal myself."

Kiba looked over Akeno's shoulder and was confounded to see Naruto being fidgety. Inhaling deeply, he nodded appreciatively, inwardly hoping the class president to give his fellow blond a living hell, before he looked away. Akeno spun around gracefully and smiled at Naruto. "You. Me. Outside. Now."

Unexpectedly, Naruto dropped his façade of nervousness and started chuckling. "With pleasure."

-Devil Game-

Akeno crossed her arms, allowed an irritated scowl to grace her beautiful features, and glared daggers at the cheerful blond. "Why?"

Naruto arched a brow innocently. "Why what?"

"Stop playing with me, Naruto! Your behaviour is unacceptable! You disrupted an ongoing lesson with your antics and insulted a classmate. As class president, it is my duty to spank you." A mischievous grin tugged at Akeno lips. "Now, what kind of punishment should I deliver to you? Do you like it hot or rough?"

"I like a little bit of both." Naruto smiled smugly and perched on the balcony's railing. "So, why did you really call me out here for? I'm pretty sure you didn't drag me to the rooftop just to lecture me about teasing our neighbourhood's local pretty boy. So what is it? You want a massage or something?"

Akeno pushed a raven strand of hair to the back of her ear and softened her gaze. The afternoon breeze enveloped the pair and Akeno brought up a hand to her hair, holding her raven locks in place. It was at that moment that Naruto saw a different side of Akeno; it was neither the seductive disciplinary class president side of her nor the high-and-mighty untouchable Onee-chan of Kuoh Academy. No, it was something else, but the blond couldn't describe it. "About that night…"

The blond quirked a brow. "What about it?"

"You told me you only wanted to be friends."

Naruto nodded. "I did."

Akeno pursed her lips. "Why?"

The blond beckoned his class president to come closer, his suave grin played about his lips. Akeno took a tentative step forward, her eyes studying Naruto's strong jawline and the whisker marks adorned on his cheeks. Her uncertainty and nervousness were washed away just by looking at those ocean blue eyes. She was so captivated and entranced by Naruto's benign gaze that she didn't notice the blond had captured her wrist.

"Akeno-chan." Naruto whispered softly. "You are a beautiful and competent woman. I am sure you have a bright future ahead of you, but that future will be tarnished if you want to be my friend."

The bemused class president tilted her head. "Why would that be?"

"I am a jinx, Akeno-chan. My family died the day I was born. People around me die or suffer a fate worse than death. You probably caught rabies by touching me. You should go get a body check-up or something. Pronto."

Akeno shook her head and cupped Naruto's hand with gentle fingers, a kind smile graced at her pink lips. "If you are a jinx, then so am I. I have lost my family, just like you, but that doesn't mean I should stop opening my heart to the people around me. So stop playing hard-to-get. It doesn't work on me. "

Naruto removed Akeno's hand from his, hopped to the cemented floor from the railing, and stood at his full height, glancing down at Akeno with frosty eyes. "Let's not be friends."

"Your pain will never go away, Naruto. You just need to make room for it. Let me help you."

The blond caressed the raven-haired girl's cheeks and smiled. "You're sweet."

"You don't have the right to do that, Naruto!" Akeno growled with furious eyes, her knuckle grew white from clenching her fists too tight. "You don't just come into somebody's life, make them care, and then just leave like it was nothing!"

Naruto strode past an astonished Akeno silently and ambled away.

The class president stood there, studying her toes for a very long time.

-Devil Game-

 _ **"Dick move, kit."**_

Naruto rolled his eyes as he traipsed through the hallway, unsure where he should go. He wasn't very hungry, so the stuffy cafeteria is a big no-no. He didn't like the classroom, so he's avoiding that too. With a heavy sigh, Naruto decided to venture to the corner of the school's building. "Just leave me alone, Kurama."

 _ **"You promised me you will open your heart to someone, not take someone's heart and shatter it into pieces, fuck-face!"**_

 _"I promised you I'll be a human, which I have always been."_

 _ **"You know what I meant."**_

 _"Look, there was never an 'us' between me and Akeno-chan. She is my class president. I am a student. That's all there is to it."_ _ **  
**_  
 _ **"Really? Because what you did to her was below the belt."**_

 _ **"Kurama, surely you were not being serious when you demanded me to love someone, right? People shit their pants when they know I was the Beast of Apocalypse. Do you know how many lives I have slaughtered? Remember that time when I wielded only a butcher knife and went chopping angels left and right in heaven? Or that time when I went to hell to burn it anew? I did many things I'm not proud of and that bounty of my head isn't gonna be gone any time soon."**_

 _ **"So?"**_

 _"So?"_ Naruto scoffed. _"Those dicks fear me because they think I have no weakness. They think a heartless and immoral beast like me would never love anybody but myself. Can you imagine what would happen if they know I have a vulnerability? If they can't get to me, they will go after those I cared about. I can't allow that to happen, Kurama."_

 _ **"Do something about it! Find a way to get back our powers! You're sitting your ass around here all day doing nothing! That's not trying! That's giving up! Naruto Uzumaki doesn't give up!"**_

 _"You think I haven't tried finding a way to get back our powers?"_ Naruto hissed. _"I tried every damn ways, Kurama! Nothing works! I even stayed on the moon for a week just to figure a way to break that seal! Do you know how many layers of seals God had implanted in the moon? Six hundred and sixty-six! Each code in the seals changes every ten minutes! Each layer rotates itself to a different position every one minute! That means I need to solve and break all six hundred and sixty-six seals within one goddamn minute!"_

 _ **"Speaking of irony."**_

 _"Look, the only way for me to protect the people around me is to ignore them. I have to, Kurama, and I'm not gonna apologise for what I did."_

 _ **"That is a load of bull and you know it!"**_

 _"I don't have a choice!"_

 _ **"There is always a choice, kit!"**_

 _"When you love someone, you start to have fears too. You'll fear if you couldn't protect that someone. You'll fear that you let them down. I fear that one day I couldn't protect that someone I love. I learned it the hard way, Kurama. I don't want to feel that pain ever again. I don't want to fall in love with Akeno and see her die or something! I can't handle that pain again!"_

 _ **"Still, that doesn't warrant you the right to go hurting that girl's feelings like that."**_

 _"Your unuttered rage is understandable, but it's totally misplaced. You should take a chill pill."_

 _ **"You choke on your own pill. I'm not angry! I'm never angry!"**_  
 _  
"Kurama, you're hatred and rage incarnate. If you're not angry, you should go get yourself checked for flu or something."_

 _ **"Bottom-line: you're a dick."**_

 _"Hey! I'm not in a good mood. Be nice. Besides, you're supposed to be my Yoda."_

 _ **"Naw, man. I'm not a wise, green midget, thank you very much."**_

Naruto arched a brow, an impish grin tugged at his lips. _"What's wrong being a wise, green midget?"_  
 _ **  
"I'm a gigantic fox with issues, kit. Lots and lots of issues. Do I look or act remotely like a wise, green midget? I don't think so. If anything, I'm Darth Vader."**_

Naruto rolled his eyes. _"Yeah right."_  
 _ **  
"Calm your tits, Luke Skywalker."**_  
 _  
"Shut up, Darth Vader."_

Naruto stopped walking and cringed at the awful singing sound emanating from a nearby room. He was so occupied communicating with Kurama that he didn't realise he had wandered to an isolated region of the school. Frankly speaking, he had never ventured this far away from his classroom, but from the looks of it, the door was constructed by expensive mahogany wood.

Actually, on closer inspection, the door and its surrounding walls contrasted greatly with the school's plain doors and walls.

It looked… out of place.

Naruto noticed the door was slightly opened and his curiosity compelled him to investigate. He stood in the doorway and caught a peek of a very beautiful red-haired girl, who was garbed in nothing but a towel wrapped around her torso, singing Britney Spears's Womanizer in an out-of-tune and unnecessarily high-pitch voice. The blond resisted his urge to laugh at the girl's cheesy dancing and the fact that she was using a television remote control as a makeshift microphone.

 _ **"What in the nine hells is that? Is that even singing? She just destroyed that song! I bet a horse high on cocaine can sing better than that! No one is allowed to sing Britney Spears's song like that! Nobody!"**_

The blond quirked an amused brow. _"Seriously? Britney Spears? I didn't know you like her song."_

 _ **"S-Shut up! It's none of your business, alright! Guilty pleasure, I tell ya! Guilty pleasure. I-I'm out of here!"**_

Naruto chuckled, but his elbow accidentally bumped into the door, and the girl stopped singing.

Her attention twisted sharply to the sheepish blond.

Her jaws dropped.

Her cheeks flushed.

The remote control fell from her hand.

An awkward silence invaded the eerily quiet room.

W-Who the hell are you?" The girl shrieked.

Naruto scratched his scalp. "I apologise for trespassing. I just so happen to overhear a donkey screaming so I came to check it out. Turns out, it was a person attempting to sing."

"D-Did you…" The red-haired girl shot the blond an exasperated look. "Did you just barge into my room without my consent and insult me?"

When the girl was about to lash out at the blond, her towel dropped to her feet, leaving her modesty exposed.

Instead of looking away like what a gentleman should be doing, the blond stroked his chin, narrowed his eyes in scrutiny, and nodded his head. "Whoa, nice rack you got there. Nice and big. A little tad asymmetrical, but that's understandable. If anything, it makes your breasts look fine and natural. Your proportions are good too. Not too overly skinny and not too overly meaty. Great hips too. Nice, nice. I could say your body is close to perfection. You work out a lot?"

"Y-You no-good, perverted jerk!" Rias Gremory grabbed the nearby pillow on the couch and hurled it at the startled blond. "Get out of here, right now!"

Naruto sidestepped the incoming pillow and frowned. "Hey! That's rude."

Rias blew out a breath of disbelief. "That's rude? How dare you! You came into my room, offended me, and violated me by looking at me naked! You're the rude one here!"

"You did flash at me." The blond retorted.

"Get out!" Rias seized the table lamp, accidentally knocking a vase on the floor in the process, and threw it at Naruto.

The blond dodged a lamp, a bunch of magazines, used shampoo bottles, a fan, a radio, and more pillows. "Stop it!"

"Why are you still- Arhh!" Rias stepped on the shattered pieces of the vase and moaned. She lifted up her leg, inspected her bleeding sole, and grumbled indignantly at the blond. "T-This is all your fault."

Naruto shook his head and walked towards the fuming girl.

She was surprised by his sudden approach and backed away. "W-What are you?"

"Stop moving." Naruto ordered, and for some unexplained reasons, Rias did just that. The blond walked through the crushed pieces of vase and abruptly swept up a very naked Rias off her feet, stunning her. She tried hammering the enigmatic stranger's chest with her fists in protest, but he didn't show even the slightest discomfort, and gently set her down on the leather sofa.

Rias's face was flushed bright pink as she desperately covered her modesty with trembling hands. "What are you doing?"

"You have a medical kit somewhere here?" Naruto scanned the spacious and opulent chamber with disinterest. "You're gonna risk an infection if I don't get your wounds cleaned up."

"I'll be fine -"

"Where is the medical kit?" It wasn't a question. It was a demand, and Rias hated being subjugated, especially by an irritating blond that she had just met. She looked away in stifled rage and pointed at the bathroom. "It's inside the mirror cabinet. Top shelf."

Naruto nodded and briskly jogged into the bathroom. After a few minutes of searching, the blond emerged from the bathroom with a dressing kit, a plastic tweezer, and a bottle of saline. He settled down beside the girl wordlessly, unceremoniously hoisted her slender leg, and rested it atop his lap. Rias, however, was flustered and confused.

The infuriating blond had not once looked at her lewdly or inappropriately. His earlier… examination was out of amusement, not of depravity. Rias was proud of her voluptuous figure, because any men would faint upon witnessing her naked body, but not this blond. This blond did not look at her as if she was an object of carnal obsession or a venerated goddess, but as an ordinary person, and it felt oddly refreshing.

She shook her thoughts away, but she couldn't hide her crimson-tinted cheeks. The blond had delicately plucked out the trinkets of broken shards from her sole, ensuring the fact that she wouldn't feel any pain. He then dipped saline on a cloth and wiped her bloodied feet gently. "Does it hurt?"

Rias shook her head dumbly.

"I'm sorry for coming in and laughing at you. This is the least I can do to make it up to you." Naruto wrapped the bandage around Rias's feet and tightened the knot with his teeth.

He picked up the towel from the floor, dusted it, and wrapped it around her smooth shoulders. "Here you go."

Rias blinked. His eyes had never once drifted below her shoulder blades. She would know, because she was staring intensely at his enthralling pair of cerulean eyes.

"You have a name or something? I don't think you would like it if I called you Miss Bad-Singer."

Rias pouted. "I'm Rias Gremory. And for the record, I'm a good singer! I just didn't use my… my proper voice, that's all."

Naruto chuckled at how the girl tried to huff proudly and said, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"Fishcake?" Rias choked on her giggle. "What kind of name is that?"

"Hey! Laughing at someone's name is uncool! Naruto is a cool name! It's a cool name!"

"Oh yeah? Laughing at someone's singing is uncool too."

Naruto smirked. "Touché. Alright, alright. I'm really sorry for being a jerk back then. Can we call it truce?"

Rias crossed her arms and threw a mock angry-fit. "If you want my forgiveness, you're gonna need a bigger boat."

The blond looked at the girl with narrow eyes and a playful smirk slowly crept up his lips. "You make me want to be a better man."

The red-haired girl cocked a brow; it seemed to her a quota-a-thon war was instigated and she would be damned if she backed down from it. Rias Gremory never backs down from a challenge! Challenge accepted. "Would you be shocked if I put on something comfortable?"

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

"I want to play a game…"

Rias tilted her head to look down at Naruto with haughty eyes, her voice was a mere whisper. "Go ahead, make my day."

"What is it you want from me? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down."

"I'll gonna make you an offer you can't refuse!" Rias improvised.

Naruto gaped at the red-haired girl with a glint of respect shining in his eyes. "You watched Godfather?"

"Why?" Rias sniffed her nose and folded her arms. "A girl like me can't appreciate movies like Godfather?"

"The force is strong in this one." Naruto quipped and gave the girl a look of acknowledgement.

"You can't handle the truth!" Rias raised her volume.

They stared at each other for a moment before they shared a childish guffaw. Rias was genuinely happy to know there was one person in the world who could do a quote-war with her. Akeno loved the blood-and-gore types. Kiba watched too much melodrama for his own good. Koneko only had eyes for family sitcoms. Don't get her started on Gasper, God have mercy on his soul. There was nobody around her who liked the same things as she did.

It was surreal to know this stranger knew so much. There were just so much things in common between them.

"You talkin' to me?" Naruto retorted with an accent.

Rias gasped. "You know Taxi Driver?"

"Why wouldn't I know that movie?"

"What are you doing here?"

Rias turned to Akeno, who was standing in the doorway with a dangerous look on her face. "Akeno, what -"

"Get out of here."

The red-haired girl blinked in confusion, followed her friend's furious gaze to the blond sitting beside her, and tilted her head. "Naruto?"

Naruto gave Rias an apologetic look before he stood up and walked towards the door, his expression inscrutable. When he walked past Akeno, he barely acknowledged her presence.

"Akeno? You know him?"

The raven-haired girl chewed her lips, stormed into the chamber, took her bag, and ran out.

Rias tousled her scarlet hair in bewilderment and groaned. "What's with that?"

-Devil Game-

Heaven was in a bedlam. News about Trihexa, the Great Beast of Apocalypse, was not dead had mortified the entire populous in heaven. God had failed to smite the Destroyer of Worlds. Upon perceiving such dreadful news, Michael the Chief Archangel of the Heavenly Host ordered an exigent meeting with his fellow seraphs. The tension in the meeting room was heavy and unbearable.

"I believe we have all heard that the Beast of Apocalypse is roaming around in Japan."

The Seraphim Council broke into an uproar, much to Michael's annoyance. "Order!"

The other archangels settled down.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, the chief archangel flailed a hand. "Someone proposes something. This is not twenty questions. I want thorough, precise, well-thought, and detailed plans. How should we tackle this issue? What kind of methods should be implemented? What's the consequences of such implementation? Would there be contingency plans? Give it to me."

Raphael coughed into his hand and cleared his throat. "We all know how devastating Trihexa's powers are. Ordinary angels would not survive five seconds in battle with that monster. The only feasible plan is for us to send one of the seraphs to verify the rumours."

"Send one of the Seraphim?" Michael arched a brow. "Is that the best plan you can come up with?"

"Umm…" Raphael hesitated.

Uriel raised his hand, attracting his comrades' attention. "Right now, we can only assume the rumours are true. If they are, Trihexa will be a threat to us. However, he has yet to do anything drastic and that probably means he isn't capable of doing it. If that's the case, he may be in a weakened state. We all know how powerful our Father is. I do not believe he can be fine after a battle with Father. If he is alive, this is the best opportunity to strike. I propose we launch a full-scale invasion in the mortal realm to scout for him. If he is indeed alive, we obliterate him."

Michael frowned. "Full-scale invasion? Are you even hearing yourself? If we launch an invasion in the mortal realm, what do you think the devils in the underworld would think? They would conclude that we are claiming earth as our own. We all know that the treaty forbids us for deploying our army into the mortal realm. The devils would undeniably marshal their legions into earth too. The treaty will be void and war is inevitable. Now, tell me, Uriel, do you think your plan is wise?"

Uriel swallowed nervously and looked away.

"Actually -" Metatron proposed, "I believe Raphael's plan is plausible."

Michael glowered at his fellow archangel. "How is that plan plausible if Trihexa has seen all of our faces?"

"But he has not seen Gabriel's." Metatron argued.

The entire Seraphim Council diverted their penetrating gaze to a puzzled-looking Gabriel, who pointed a finger at herself timidly. "M-Me?"

Metatron nodded. "Yes. During the Great War, Gabriel was the Generalissimo of the Combat Logistic Corps. When Father fought Trihexa, Gabriel was not in the frontline, while we were. Any one of us would risk having our identity exposed, which means none of us can be a spy, except Gabriel. Also, I would like to point out that Gabriel has an arsenal of profound magic that allow her to mask her presence, something that we are not gifted with."

Gabriel shifted uncomfortably. "I just don't think I'm suitable for this -"

Michael's hand shot up abruptly, demanding silence. _"Metatron's justification has some legit points. Gabriel has never seen Trihexa's face before. That means Trihexa would not be able to identify her as an archangel. If Trihexa is indeed in his weakened state, Gabriel has the power to destroy him with ease. Once his death is confirmed and publicised, the fallen and the devil would think twice before they try to attack us. This expedition will boost the morale of our troops and give us a better leverage over the other factions."_

"Brother, surely you're not serious about this." Gabriel furrowed her brows worriedly. "I don't have the confidence to do this."

"Gabriel!" Michael chided. "This is not about us. This is about redeeming the value of our father's sacrifice! His existence is a bane to our memory of our father and thus, he must be eliminated! I can only deduce that he conforms to a life of secrecy because he has lost his powers, but there is nobody to validate the rumours! Gabriel, do you even have Heaven's interest in mind?"

"Of course I do! But what if I jeopardise this mission? I have no experience in espionage and you want me to go undercover just to certify some… rumours?" Gabriel shook her head.

The chief archangel nodded and deadpanned. "Yes. I need you to ascertain the credibility of the rumours. If the rumours are true, capture him and bring him back to heaven."

"You want me to drag the Great Beast of Apocalypse to heaven?"

"I don't care what methods you employed. Seduce him. Tranquilised him. I do not care. I will pardon any transgression made against the law of heaven, as long as you deliver the result to us. Of course, it is preferable that he comes to us willingly. Having him here kicking and screaming will be annoying, don't you think? Regardless, I want him to be in our prison cell in three months' time." Michael ordered with a stern voice. "Remember this well, Gabriel. We are soldiers. We either successfully complete our missions or we die a glorious death. Do you understand?"

Gabriel bit her lower lip. "W-What do you plan to do to him once he's captured?"

A sinister smirk tugged at the chief archangel's lips. "Public execution."

-Devil Game-

Izanagi placed the bowl of hot pork ramen on the table, dug out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it up, and smoked his stick.

Naruto peered up from his seat and glared vexingly at the old god. "Don't you know it's inconsiderate to smoke in front of a man who's about to enjoy his ramen?"

"Don't you know I do not give a damn if you enjoy my ramen or not."

The blond picked up his lacquered chopsticks and snickered. "With that kind of shitty attitude, no wonder nobody wants to come here to eat your shitty ramen."

"If my ramen is shitty, does that mean you enjoy eating shit?" Izanagi retorted with a querulous tone.

Naruto ignored the old god and began slurping his noodles with delight. He let out a moan of approval as he chewed the noodles, much to the old god's annoyance. Izanagi knew Naruto knew that he hated that moaning sound, so Naruto would deliberately do it every time, just to irritate him.

"So what's up?"

Naruto swallowed his noodles and shrugged. "Meh. Nothing much. Just adopted two fallen angels into my home. Other than that, nothing's up."

"Oh, fallen angel -" Izanagi blinked, digested the information for a minute, turned his attention slowly to the nonchalant blond, and leaned forward. "Did you say… there are fallen angels in your house?"

"Yeah," Naruto replied in a monotone.

The old god shook his head and nursed his forehead. "Why in the living hell did you do that?"

"Things happen. I don't even know where to start."

Realization dawned on the old god. He heard about a ground-breaking incident that erupted from a church located somewhere on the outskirt of the city. There were speculations that a fight between fallen angels and an unknown entity had broken out. The underworld was in a mess when the Grigori tried to conceal the conspiracy by being awfully quiet about it. The fallen angels were usually evasive when there was a grave commotion that involved them.

That would only mean one thing…

Izanagi gasped. "No way."

"Yes way."

Izanagi cocked a brow. "How did it happen?"

"Well…"

-Devil Game-  
(A few hours earlier…)

The last thing Naruto expected to see at his front door when he returned from school was two fallen angels with their suitcases resting beside them. Naruto shot a dry look at an elated Raynare and a skittish Kalawarner. "Do I want to know why you two are here for?"

Raynare smiled. "I heard from Kala that you saved me. I want to offer you my gratitude."

"Gratitude received." Naruto deadpanned. "Now leave."

"Umm…" Kalawarner harrumphed. "After that incident, the fallen angels believe we are dead. If they knew what we did, we would be hunted down and executed for treason. We believe the safest place in this world is here. We want to stay with you."

The blond scratched his head. "And what makes you think this place is safe?"

"Well, for starters…" Kalawarner bit her nail and averted her gaze. "You have a sense of righteousness -"

"I'm a pretty selfish bastard." Naruto corrected.

"- and you are kind -"

"I'm evil." The blond interjected.

"- and you definitely won't abandon two homeless girls with nowhere else to go."

"I'm that kind of person who would kick a puppy for looking at me wrong."

Raynare said with clench teeth, "Do you have any idea what is it like to fall from grace? We defy our father's will and He casts us out simply because we want to do our thing. He didn't even consider that it is just a phase! And what happen to us? Our brothers and sisters ostracise us. The devils hunt us. And now our comrades want us dead too. This unforgivable and wretched world is out to kill us because… because…"

The fallen angel burst into tears and jumped dramatically into her friend's embrace.

"Naruto-sama, please, we have nowhere else to go." Kalawarner brushed Raynare's silky raven hair with her fingers and sighed. "If you accept us as your servants, we will forever be in your debt."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Just go."

"We'll do anything to repay you!" Raynare snapped her attention to Naruto and yelled. "If that means giving you a strip-tease every night, we'll do it!"

"Raynare!" Kalawarner hissed.

Naruto shut his eyes and pinched his nose. "You're still here…"

"Say it! You want us to be your lovers, don't you? You want us to be your mistress so you could touch us every night with your perverted hands! You know what? That's fine with us! We may be uneducated in the field, but we're willing to try! You want us to fulfil your fetish? Dress us up as schoolgirls? Or do you like cowgirls? Tell us what you want!"

Kalawarner blushed. "R-Raynare!"

"Shut up, Kala! I'm working on something here."

Naruto deadpanned. "Fine. You two can live here -"

"I can be a stewardess if you're into those creepy -"

"I said you can live here!"

Raynare blinked. "R-Really? You mean it?"

He didn't. "Yes… but no schoolgirls. No cowgirls. And absolutely no stewardess. Just keep a one metre gap between you and me."

"You're the best!" The raven-haired fallen angel started bouncing up and down in joy.

"But the two of you ain't freeloading around here. You gotta pay rent."

Kalawarner bowed politely. "We understand."

Raynare nodded with a bright smile curled at her lips. "We'll make sure to satisfy your every need, Naruto-sama!"

"Urgh. You have no idea how wrong that sounds."

-Devil Game-

Izanagi let out an irrepressible chortle. "You really are a sucker for damsels in distress."

"What can I say? Girls are naturally attracted to my charm."

The old god scoffed. "Calling your cockiness a charm really shows how thick your skin is."

"Don't you know?" Naruto shot Izanagi a smug look. "Girls are like bears and I'm their honey!"

"You do know that only black bear likes honey. Not all bears are into Winnie the Pool -"

"You don't get it, old fart. You just don't get it, do you? When girls look at me, their eyes sparkle. Just think about it. I'm handsome, strong, stylish and witty. Chicks dig that." Naruto nestled his cheeks into his palms and smiled jubilantly. "Most importantly, I'm cute. Look at this face! It has the word 'cute' written all over it. You think so too, right?"

"For someone like you to call yourself cute…" Izanagi suppressed the shudders crawling up his spine and gave the blond a disgusted look. "Outrageous."

"You fool! I'm really cute! That's a fact, you jealous old bat."

Izanagi chuckled, snatched the newspaper from his counter, flipped it open, and plopped down on his stool. "So, any interesting thing happens in your school?"

"I met a cute girl called Rias Gremory. She's a bad singer, but she sure knows her stuff about movies." Naruto said it nonchalantly. "I really like her though. We really have quite a lot of things to say. If I could stay a little longer, I bet we would have a slumber party or something."

The old god lowered his newspaper and scowled. "Did you just say… Rias Gremory?"

"Yeah?" Naruto blinked. "What about her? You know her or something?"

"Do I know her?" The old god stared at the bemused blond incredulously. "I am unsure if you're playing the oblivious card or are you really that stupid. She is the heiress of the Gremory clan and the next in line to rule over one of the most powerful devil house in the underworld! And she is also Sirzechs Lucifer's younger sister! Do you even know what that means?"

Naruto arched a brow, looked at the ceiling for a moment, and shrugged. "That I'm allergic to shellfish?"

"This motherfu -" Izanagi vented his frustration out by tossing the dirtied pot into the sink. "How does your allergies relate to what we're talking about?"

"Sirzechs? His name sounds familiar." Naruto tapped his chin and pondered. "Who is he again?"

Izanagi shook his head and sighed. "One of the Four Great Satan? Ring any bell?"

"Ohhhh… Right…" Naruto nodded and raised a finger. "Yup. I remembered him. He was such a narcissistic and self-righteous prick when we first fought. I'm glad our battles toned that temper of his down a few notches. Hmm… I didn't know he has such a cute sister though. What a coincidence."

The old god bit his cigarette and tossed his newspaper down the bin. "It's not, really. This city is supervised by both the Gremory and Sitri Clan. Meeting either one of the heiresses is not really a coincidence. It was just a matter of time."

"Yeah, I know." Naruto picked up his bowl, drank the soup, and let out a belch of content.

Izanagi cocked a brow. "You seem awfully insouciant about all this."

"You said it yourself. It's a matter of time before I meet them. Frankly speaking though, I don't really care if she is Sirzechs's sister or not. You know my policy." Naruto dropped his bowl on the table and grinned. "I can be kind if I want to be, but don't misjudge my kindness for weakness, because if someone picks a fight with me, weak is not what that someone is going to remember about me. As long as Rias doesn't know me, that's fine. Besides, I like being incognito."

Izanagi leaned forward and squint, his voice raspy and his expression solemn. "Are you dating that Gremory girl?"

Naruto attempted to slap his face, but he had ducked with a teasing chortle. They shared a light chuckle before silence took over. The blond glanced at his emptied bowl wearily, which the old god immediately noticed. "So, what's bothering you."

The blond looked away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, don't lie to me. I can tell a troubled look right off the bat."

The blond heaved out a heavy sigh and smiled wistfully. "I have to hurt people for their own good and I don't feel great about it."

Izanagi puffed out smoke rings from his cigarette and sighed. "Instead of hurting them, you should stop indulging in self-pity and do something about it."

"Self-pity?" Naruto glared dangerously at the old god. "You are treading on some mighty thin-ice here, old man."

"Whatever happen happened." The unfazed Izanagi countered, "And let's make this clear, you're not blaming yourself for the lives you have taken during the Great War. You are blaming yourself for not taking away those lives sooner, because you saw the ugly side of the angels and the immoral side of the demons. And you know what? That has been eating you up ever since."

"Then what should I do?" Naruto stood up from his seat in untamed umbrage and pointed at the window. "Go out there and make friends with people and then watch them die because of me? My ledger is soaked red! I don't need to dump it in the river of blood, okay?"

Izanagi scoffed. "That's vanity talking."

"Vanity?" The blond was in disbelief. "I am trying to protect the people around me!"

"That's what you have been saying to yourself! That's self-pity! Trying to feel sorry for yourself because you're too afraid to see the truth!" Izanagi spat. "You're a spineless coward."

"How dare you!"

"Instead of trying to get stronger, instead of trying to restore your powers, what are you doing?" The old god sneered. "Oh, that's right. Idling around and wasting your time!"

Naruto growled. "You think it's easy to unseal my powers? What? Do you think it's like playing hopscotch? God didn't just seal my powers away. He placed a goddamn stopper on my chakra! A stopper that only he can turn on and off! You know what? I didn't come here for a fight. I thought I could come here for some advice, but I guess I came to the wrong place."

The blond spun around and approached the exit, but before he could leave the stall, the old god spoke. "You didn't come to the wrong place. No. You knew I would say those things to you. You just chose not to do anything about it. Until you are ready to accept your faults, you will always be afraid."

Clenching his trembling fists, Naruto stormed out of the stall.

-Devil Game-

Gabriel had never felt so apprehensive before. She had fought countless wars, survived thousands of life-and-death situations, and even flew into hell a couple times, but those experiences were insignificant compare to the mission at hand. She knew everything there was to know about the Great Beast of Apocalypse. He was the murderer of her Father and the reason why the graveyard of heaven was littered with so many of her dead brothers and sisters' tombstones.

Her heart was pounding as she stood at the door, waiting for the lecturer to allow her in.

She had forged her documents and came up with an impromptu name – a name that came to her mind all of a sudden - in order to infiltrate the school. She even resorted using magic spells to make her words persuasive to the principal. With her paramount magical capabilities, she could easily conceal her angelic scent, even her fellow angels would find it difficult detecting her presence.

When the door slid open, Gabriel stiffened.

The teacher smiled at the archangel-in-disguise and stepped aside. "Please come in."

Gabriel straightened her uniform, cleared her throat, exuded confidence with an indifferent expression, and strolled into the classroom.

The male students did a double-take when they saw the beautiful girl with lustrous golden hair walked into the classroom. In their eyes, it was like one of the next top models from Victoria's Secret had just marched in.

The female students shot Gabriel envious glares.

Akeno was staring out the window, not caring who the new student was.

Naruto had his hands behind his head and his eyes closed.

The archangel-in-disguise stood before more than twenty pair of eyes and she felt as if she was before a standing ovation. Rumours had it that the Trihexa was amongst the students in the classroom. If that's true, then the despicable and vile Beast was observing her.

 _This is not the time to feel anxious about this. I am Gabriel, one of the Four Great Seraphs, Guardian of the Divine Throne, Archangel of Faith, and Generalissimo of the Combat Logistic Corps. That's right. I am prepared to carry out my orders, for the sake of heaven and my brethren. I have to do this."_ Gabriel calmed her fidgeting hand and gave the class a polite bow. _"_ My name is Hinata Hyuuga. Please to meet you."

Naruto, who had not paid any interest with whatever happened in the class, abruptly opened his eyes in trepidation upon hearing the name and twisted his attention sharply to the beautiful blonde.

To his dismay, the girl noticed his astounded gaze and glanced at him with a soft smile.

"H-Hinata?"

* * *

 **Author Note: Wow. Two chapters and I have already hit the 400 reviews mark. Thank you guys! Your kind reviews have motivated me to keep on writing. Thank you for your support and I hope you can continue to support this story.**

Pairings:  
1.) NarutoXRias  
2.) NarutoXAkeno  
3.) NarutoXRaynare  
4.) NarutoXKalawarner  
5.) NarutoXGabriel  
6.) NarutoXRossweisse  
7.) NarutoXKuroka  
8.) NarutoXHarem?

Please drop a comment on the reviews and let me know what you think. I look forward reading your reviews.


	4. Repairing a Shattered Dream

Naruto's jaw was unhinged as he grabbed the edge of his desk till his knuckles grew white and gapped at the beautiful blonde standing before him. Hyuuga was not a common surname, that part was for sure. What were the chances of meeting someone called Hinata Hyuuga in this dimension? One in a million? Naruto knew he wasn't that lucky and he sure as hell never believed in coincidence.

"Hinata-san, please take a seat beside Naruto-san over there."

The blonde nodded politely, gave the lecturer a kind smile, and walked towards her desk, ignoring the lewd whistles from the male students in the classrooms. When she reached her desk, she smiled meekly at her fellow blond, who was glaring vicious daggers at her, much to her consternation. She scratched her scalp in confusion, plopped down on her chair, drew her hands to her lap, and stared anxiously at her desk.

Gabriel snuck a peek to her left and flinched; her neighbour was glowering at her with untamed anger burning in his eyes. She tidied her golden locks, reached out for her bag, rummaged for her textbook, and placed her study materials neatly before her.

Gabriel slowly shifted her sight to her left again and was mortified that the blond was still glaring furiously at her.

"Umm… can I help you?" Gabriel asked timidly, almost hiccupping.

Naruto just kept on glaring.

"Umm…"

"Psst! Hinata-san!" Gabriel turned to one of the female students who had just whispered at her. "Don't talk to him! He's a psycho!"

Gabriel blinked quizzically. "B-But -"

"Trust me! If you get targeted by that freak, he'll prank you till the semester ends! Last year, he nearly sent twelve students to the mental asylum just because he thought it was funny to make pie-bombs in the cafeteria! He's crazy! Don't look at him and avoid eye-contact with that creep! He's the class delinquent! He has no future and -"

"Are you done talking? Do you want to die? Huh?" Naruto's glare was switched sharply to the student, who immediately shrank fearfully and looked away.

The lecturer harrumphed. "Naruto-san, please keep -"

The blond shot the teacher a death look, who cringed and carried on clumsily with his lectures.

Naruto crossed his arms, threw his legs over his desk, and gave Gabriel the I'm-watching-you gesture.

Gabriel didn't know how to react with the blatant and unreasonable hostility. She could only do what she normally would do; sat demurely in her seat and pretended Naruto's glare wasn't burning through her.

When the class was over, Naruto stood up from his seat, seized Gabriel's wrist, yanked her off her chair, and dragged the startled blonde with him out of the classroom. After their departure, the class started a gossiping frenzy, generating rumours about Naruto eloping with the new student or Hinata was secretly his long-lost wife.

Akeno didn't want to hear any of it.

She grabbed her bag and stormed out of the classroom.

-Devil Game-

"Who are you?" Naruto pushed Gabriel to the wall and growled. They were at one of the most sequestered areas in the school where nobody would disrupt their conversation; the rooftop.

"I-I don't quite understand what you're saying. I'm Hin -"

"You're not! You're not Hinata! It's impossible! Hinata Hyuuga is dead!" Naruto leaned closer to Gabriel, his dangerous look didn't help to sedate the frightened blonde. Gabriel shifted nervously and looked left and right, trying to find an escape route. Naruto grasped Gabriel's slender shoulders, pinning her to her spot, and growled threateningly. "I'll ask you one last time. Who are you?"

Gabriel mustered a façade of bravado and gritted her teeth. "Is it so wrong for me to share the same name as your friend? And from the looks of it, she is a very close friend to you, isn't she? I'm sorry for your loss. I truly do. I have lost my fair share of precious people too, and I know what it's like to grieve for that loved one who you'll never see again, but I chose not to let it get into my life."

Naruto was surprised when the girl's sheer conviction had made him instinctively loosened his grip on her. Gabriel removed herself from the wall and took a bold step forward, forcing the bewildered blond to take a step back. "I can see through you. I can tell this Hinata is probably more than just a close friend. You love her, don't you?"

The blond looked away, resisting the urge to let his eyes moist as he desperately clenched his fists hard. "You don't know anything about her!"

"No, I don't." Gabriel managed a weak smile and reached out for Naruto's reddened fist. "But I know Hinata wouldn't want you to keep mourning for her. She would want you to live your life to the fullest. She would want you to be happy. That's why -" Gabriel glanced up, hoisted his hand to shoulder-level, and stroke his hand affectionately with her thumb. "You have to be brave. I'm sure she wouldn't want you to be like this."

Naruto clenched his jaw, spun around, and bolted to the exit.

Gabriel sighed and peered up at the empyreal blue sky.

-Devil Game-

They say the one who speak the loudest in the room is always the weakest one. Chief Archangel Michael was anything but loud. To his subordinates, he was a kind and caring leader, revered for his virtue and divine strength. However, his peers mistook his gentle smile for benevolence, because the Seraphim Council knew a silent smiling Michael was scarier than a wrathful God.

"I hope you have summoned me to this godforsaken place for something important." Michael smiled his usual smile, his eyes surveying the barren tundra before him.

Rizevim Livan Lucifer sat beside Michael at a small coffee table, situated atop a hill. He poured himself a cup of earl grey tea, inhaled the pleasant aroma, and nodded in satisfaction. "I wouldn't dare seek an audience with the Great Chief Archangel without a purpose. I'm here to discuss about Kokabiel's passing. Now that he is dead, our plans are in jeopardy. What should we do?"

"Nothing is in jeopardy. Stop being so dramatic about things like this. It's obnoxious." Michael levelled Rizevim a cold glare, before his features softened into a gentle smile. "Now, allow me to analyse our situation. Kokabiel failed to instigate a war between heaven and hell, but his passing has shed some light to Trihexa's whereabouts. I believe that is more important than anything."

"You cheeky bastard you. Is that why you sent your dearest sister to the mortal realm? To check on him?" Rizevim grinned. "You know you crazy, right?"

Michael's smile faltered slightly. "I ordered – No, I wanted Gabriel to seek out Trihexa because I am painfully aware that Father has tampered with her soul. I do not know what and I do not know why, but I believe His contingency plan involves my sister. Whatever my Father has planted inside my sister would be the key to our salvation; I just need to know what it is. When the time comes, my plans will be realised."

The aged devil arched a brow and stifled his snicker. "Are you sure you're not my father? Because you sound exactly like Lucifer."

"Please do not compare myself with your wretched and foolish father, precious nephew."

"I would never." Rizevim shot Michael an innocent look. "But it does beg the question. Why do you want to gather all the Longinus?"

The archangel schooled an inscrutable expression. "Why do you think the Longinus exist in the first place? Did you honestly think God would be foolish enough to create such devastating weapons that could actually kill him?" Michael scratched his chin and tilted his head, pondering for a moment. "On second thought, yes, my Father _is_ foolish enough to forge weapons that could kill him. So why? Why is he so desperate to make such things?"

Slowly, Rizevim's eyes widened in realisation. It all made sense now. "The Longinus was created to kill Trihexa!"

Michael smiled. "I'm glad you're not stupid as you look."

The devil resisted his urge to assault the archangel for his insult and cleared his throat. "So, what's the next step?"

"Nothing." Michael shrugged. "We wait. It won't be long before judgement day arrives."

"Why are you so eager to have the apocalypse upon the world? Did daddy do something wrong to you or something?"

The archangel smiled. "Daddy didn't do anything wrong. The world did. I have read the scripts of all the players in the chessboard, including yours. Destiny has written a script for everybody, apparently, even for my Father. It has to be carried out and it is my duty to enforce Destiny's will. Truth be told, I have read mine as well. I know how this would all play out. The script even foretells that it is my destiny to fight the beast of apocalypse."

"Did the script say who wins?" Rizevim arched a brow, piqued curiosity was clearly shown on his face.

"No, unfortunately. Too many unknown factors on the chessboard. Too many uncertainties. I do not like the unknown." Michael shifted comfortably in his seat and gazed upon the wasteland aloofly. "However, I would avenge my Father. That I promise you."

"Really?" Rizevim slapped his jaw lightly and mused aloud. "If my memories serve me right, you're the one who led God to His death, no?"

Michael was no longer smiling; his penetrating gaze was fixated at the oblivious devil.

"When God marshalled his legions of angels to confront Trihexa, you were there. I was there. Even the Great Red was there too. God almost had him, but you ordered the archangels, as well as the entirety of the heavenly hosts, to retreat. That was why God fell. He lost his fight against the Beast of Apocalypse, not because he was weak, but because he trusted the wrong son."

In split-seconds, Michael had his sword, the fabled Michael's Sword, dangerously close to Rizevim's neck. The aged devil shot his hands up in a surrender notion, chuckling sheepishly. Regardless of how powerful he was, Rizevim wasn't stupid enough to provoke Michael when he had his sword out. The Michael's Sword was bestowed upon the archangel by God himself and it was the divine weapon that made Michael one of the most fearsome entities in the universe.

One tiny scrape inflicted by the Michael's Sword and you're practically a goner.

"I hope you're not accusing me of betraying my Father, precious nephew."

Rizevim swallowed and let out a nervous and uneasy laugh. "I won't count on it, precious uncle."

Michael nodded with a smile and released his hold from his sword, which vaporised into sparkling dust and were swept away by the wind. "Words hold powers. Powers that can make a thousand succumbs to your will. Powers that can make a person an enemy to the world. Please remember that and don't ever commit such a ridiculous mistake again. I am a man of patience, but I have limits too."

"What are you going to do with all that power?"

"I told you since day one, didn't I?" Michael smirked. "Jumpstart the apocalypse."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but -" Rizevim peered at the aloof archangel with amusement glinting in his eyes. "You're more evil than any devils I have met. And I have met plenty. I only want to harness Trihexa's power. You actually want to break the world."

-Devil Game-

When the school bell rang, Gabriel let out a sigh of relief. Her classmates had warmed up to her fairly quickly. It was nice being normal for a change. She stored her books in her bag, said her goodbyes to her newly-acquainted human friends, stood up from her seat, and ambled to the door, but was surprised to see Naruto standing in the doorway. "I didn't see you in class after lunch-break. I was worried that -"

"I'm sorry."

Gabriel blinked and tilted her head. "Umm… what are you apologising for?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head and looked away, abashed. "I shouldn't have cornered you and yelled at you like that earlier. I… I just -"

The archangel-in-disguise smiled with the grace of a saint and shook her head. "No, it's fine. If anything, it should be me who should be apologising. My name probably brings back too many hurtful memories for you."

"Regardless, I don't have the right to be a jerk to you." Naruto dropped his uptight façade and smiled weakly. "Is it okay for me to repay you with ramen? My treat."

Gabriel smiled blankly, not really knowing what's going on. "What's ramen?"

The blond widened his eyes to impossible degree and gawked in horror at the clueless girl. He was trying to register what the archangel-in-disguise had just asked and recited the question in disbelief. "W-What's ramen? Did you just ask what I think you just ask?"

"What's that?"

Naruto nearly fainted- No, scratched that. He had nearly collapsed over in a dramatic fashion as his brain shut down on him. Gabriel yelped in fright and instinctively caught his fall. "W-What's going on?"

"You poor girl, you! Come with me!" Naruto regained his composure, grabbed Gabriel's wrist, and smiled cheerfully. "You have missed out too much in life for not knowing the wonders of ramen. Allow me to shower you with the gift of heaven!"

The archangel-in-disguise lifted a perplexed brow. "I don't recall heaven has a -"

-Devil Game-

Gabriel walking quietly beside the enigmatic blond, occasionally sneaking a quick glance at him. Forsaking the tough-and-rough exterior, the archangel saw a man who was lost in life, burdened by a sad past. Whatever it was, it had pained him for a very long time, forcing him to shut out the world and resenting everything in life. Gabriel saw despondence and the desperation in his captivating ocean blue eyes and she wanted to do something about it.

"It's not nice to stare, Hinata-san."

Gabriel's face flushed a few shades of red before she studied her toes and quickened her pace.

Naruto chuckled and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, easing up her apprehension. "I'm just kidding. Stare all you want. It's a free world after all."

"Free world, huh?" Gabriel smiled sadly. "So, would you mind if I ask what kind of woman is she?"

The blond arched a brow at the blonde, who was smiling with such pure innocence at him. He conceded with a long sigh and scratched the back of his head. "Where should I start?" He stroked his chin, pondering for a moment, before his lips curled to a small smile. "She's the kind of girl who would stand by your side no matter what. She may be shy, but when the situation demands it, she will be the first to stand up for what she believes in. That silly girl will even throw her life away if that means her loved ones are safe."

"She sounds amazing." Gabriel glanced up.

"Yes, she is." Naruto slotted a fist into his pocket and guided Gabriel down the alleyway. "Keep close. This place is the rowdy side of the district."

Gabriel yelped as the blond grasped her wrist gently and pulled her close to him. She tided her hair, looked down demurely, and allowed the blond to walk her through the tenebrous alleyway. Sure, she was an archangel and possessed nigh-omnipotence, but that didn't mean she wouldn't want to be safe in someone's care, and that feeling of yearning was vexing her.

"We're here." Naruto flashed Gabriel a suave and toothy grin as they stood before a quaint-looking café. "Wait right here. I'll be back."

The archangel nodded dumbly and watched as the blond marched into the stall.

-Devil Game-

"Old man?" Naruto walked towards the counter and heard the clangs of pots in the back of the kitchen. "Old man!"

"Yeah! Yeah! Wait up!" Izanagi wiped his hands on his apron and strolled out from the bowel of the stall. "The usual ramen?"

"Yeah, no." The blond took in a deep breath and glanced solemnly at the old god. "I'm sorry for -"

Izanagi waved a dismissive hand and grumbled. "Water under the bridge, kid. I don't hold grudges like that, so there's nothing for you to be sorry about. I'm just concern if you have come to terms with your problems. In life, there are many hurdles. Some are easy to overcome. And then there are some that make you stop and think. I hope you are done thinking."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I will get over it. For now, I brought a classmate with me. She's a new transferred student and she didn't know what ramen is."

Upon hearing that, the old god gasped, clutched his chest, and nearly tripped. "What kind of world is she living in? Where is she?"

The blond smirked, ran out of the stall, and dragged a very beautiful blonde into the stall. Izanagi's eyes widened momentarily when he registered the look of Naruto's classmate before he regained his composure and feigned a placid look. "Old man, this is Hinata-san. I was thinking of making her your signature dish myself so she could understand the true meaning of life."

Gabriel bowed politely at the old god. "Please take care of me."

Izanagi ruffled Naruto's hair and smacked his shoulder. "That's my boy! Now get in there and show your friend my stall's signature Cha-Shu Ramen! Make me proud and make sure it's up to my standard!"

The blond saluted the old god and jogged into the kitchen. When Naruto was out of earshot, Izanagi turned to Gabriel and frowned. "Archangel Gabriel."

"Great God Izanagi." Gabriel nodded as a sign of respect for the old god. "I didn't expect you to be here."

"I could say the same thing to you too." Izanagi pulled out a cigar from his breast pocket, lit it up, and took a puff. "What kind of dusty wind has brought your feathered self here?"

Gabriel tilted her head in confusion. "Naruto-san brought me here to try your ramen. He told me how delicious it is. So, here I am."

Izanagi narrowed his eyes and glanced at the archangel, scrutinising for any deceit laced on her expression. The old god looked over his shoulders, making sure Naruto wasn't around, and diverted his attention back to the archangel. "Archangels like yourself don't come down to earth for no good reason. Why are you really here for? I hope you're not starting a war or anything drastic like that."

"I can't say." Gabriel smiled. "I have my orders."

"Sure you do." Izanagi leaned forward, his eyes were burning with hatred and anger. "But if you tried something funny here, I'll personally come and behead your body with my spear. I'm sure my spear has left quite a nasty impression to your flocks, no?"

"Ame no Noboko. You fought my Father with it." Gabriel raised her head to meet Izanagi's glare of exasperation. "But, I would humbly request that you do not disclose my identity to Naruto-san. He is a human. He doesn't need to be involved with the affairs of the supernatural. Let our worlds be our worlds and let theirs be theirs. I don't want war any more than you would want to."

Izanagi scoffed and blew out smoke rings at the blonde. "Right. Say the one whose family of war enthusiasts campaigned against all the other pantheons in heaven for the past one thousand years. Your kind cast us out! The Olympians. The Shinto. Almost all of us were exiled from our home because of you. You and your feathered kinds are the true menace in this world."

Gabriel averted gaze. "Father -"

"Your Father is a swine!"

The archangel's eyes were glowing with fury and she balled her fists. "You better take that back."

"Ramen is ready~!" The oblivious Naruto strolled out of the kitchen with a bowl of noodles in his hand, beaming cheerfully at Gabriel, who was affected by the infectious smile from the blond and she, too, managed to smile.

The tension between the archangel and the old god defused almost immediately. Izanagi trudged back into the kitchen, leaving Naruto and Gabriel to their device. He had probed enough information from the archangel to know that she didn't know Naruto's true identity. The blond cocked a brow, gave his classmate a look of concern, and queried, "What's with that? Did the old man harass you or something?"

"N-No! He has been kind to me," She lied; she wasn't a person of deception, but she was glad that Naruto didn't pick up something odd about what she said.

"Right. He's anything but kind." Naruto shook his head, pulled a chair for Gabriel to sit, and settled down beside the archangel-in-disguise. She sat down, took the chopsticks from its holster, and stared in confusion at the blond. "Are you not going to eat with me too? I don't think I can finish this by myself."

Naruto chuckled and nodded. He, too, grabbed his utensil and dug in the bowl of steaming ramen with Gabriel.

The way she blew the soup with such delicate grace, the way she held her hair as she slurped the strands of noodles, the way she chewed her food, and the way she smiled at him were so similar to Hinata's mannerism. It was as if she was Hinata's reincarnate, from the gravitas that she exuded to the aristocratic grace she held herself.

"It's not nice to stare, Naruto-san." Gabriel quipped teasingly, surprising the blond.

"I-I'm sorry. It's just…"

"This ramen is very good." The archangel-in-disguise quirked a cheery smile. "I really like this brown thing that you put it in. It's chewy and gives the soup so much flavour. What is it?"

"Bamboo shoots." Naruto smiled sadly. "Hinata likes the same thing too."

"Oh." Gabriel looked away.

The blond scratched his scalp and laughed sheepishly, not knowing that a tear was tracing down his cheek. "Sorry about that. I just -"

"It's okay." The archangel wiped the teardrop off Naruto's face with her slender finger and offered him a compassionate and soft smile. "We all feel sad about things. It's natural. I believe your love for Hinata-san is a beautiful thing, and I know she is blessed to know that she has a man who loves her so much."

Naruto chuckled, despite his tears were streaming uncontrollably down his reddened face. "You must be thinking that I'm such a little kid, huh?"

The beautiful blonde shook her head and pursed her lips. "Crying isn't a sign of weakness, Naruto-san. It is a sign of you trying too hard to be strong for too long. I understand how much it hurts to know the one you cherished the most in your heart will never be in your arms again. I want you to know that I will always be here for you if you ever need a shoulder to lean on."

Naruto reached out for her soft hands on his face and rested his forehead on the base of her palm. "Thank you."

Gabriel giggled. "No, Naruto-san. Thank you for sharing your pain with me. I will always be here to help you if you need me."

Izanagi, who had been spying on Gabriel's interaction with Naruto, nodded with a knowing smile of his own, leaned against a nearby wall, and puffed out smoke from his mouth. "Maybe destiny has plans for those two kids. Who would have thought Gabriel chose Hinata as her name. God must have done something, huh?"

-Devil Game-

Like the gentleman that he was, Naruto offered to walk Gabriel home, and he was surprised to know she lived a couple of blocks away from where Akeno lived. He bid his goodbye to the blonde, and was surprised that she had pulled him into a warm embrace, cooing in his ears that everything would turn out fine. Naruto smiled gratefully at the archangel-in-disguise, pulled away from her, and watched as she entered her apartment.

Naruto was about to turn around and walk back home, but knowing Akeno was nearby had made him stopped in his tracks.

 _ **"..ey… it… Wooooo…. Wooo….."**_

The blond rolled his eyes.

 _"Speak louder, Kurama."_

 _ **"You told me not to talk to you out of the blue. I decided to go with the eerie-ghost-whispering approach."**_

 _"Fabulous."_

 _ **"Go."**_

 _"..."_

 _ **"You know she's hurting, right?"**_

 _"I don't care."_

 _ **"Keep telling yourself that. If you really don't give a fuck about her, you wouldn't be standing here, arguing with me whether you should go or not. I can tell you really care for her. You said it yourself. You don't want anything to happen to her, and that's not because you think she is just a statistic, because I know you more than you do. You care for her just like how you care for Hin -"**_

 _"Don't finish that sentence, Kurama."_

 _ **"Oh, buck up, Naruto! How long has it been since she passed away? Stop this angst bullshit right here, right now and go find that Akeno-girl!"**_

 _"I -"_

 _ **"JUST DO IT!"**_

It was as if his body was on auto-pilot as his legs slowly carried him towards where Akeno lived, and that walk graduated into a jog, and it eventually became a full-burst sprint. It wasn't long before the blond saw his class president standing on one of the steps of the stairs that led to her home, not moving and staring to space. The blond sped through the stairs and seized Akeno's wrist, spinning her abruptly to face him. "Akeno, I -"

"Whatever you want to say, just leave it some other day, okay?" The blond wrapped his hand around her wrist, hoisted it to eye-level, and stared intensely at the unfazed Akeno. She met his remorseful gaze with her furious glare and tried to yank her hand off from his firm grip. In the heat of the moment, Naruto didn't care if he was hurting her, he just wanted to make her listen. "Let go!"

"Akeno-chan -"

"Don't you dare Akeno-chan me. Didn't you say you want nothing to do with me? Let go!"

"I said all those things because…"

Akeno clenched her teeth. "Because?"

"Because I'm afraid."

"Afraid of what?" Akeno almost shouted. "What are you so afraid of, Naruto? What could possibly make you ostracise those who care about you?"

Naruto averted his gaze. "I'm afraid of losing you, Akeno-chan. I have lost too many people in my life. I chose a life of solitude because I know how much it hurts to see someone you care about die before you. You know how they say time heals all wounds? That's a load of bull, because time doesn't heal, it only numbs your pain. I try to tell myself that I don't care about anything, but I can't."

"Do you know how selfish and despicable you are?" The raven-haired girl balled her fists. "How dare you treat whatever we once had like it means nothing to you? Have you even considered my feelings? Did you even thought about how I would feel when you said those things to me?"

His sight was downcast. "I did. I thought it was the best for both of us. I didn't want you to get hurt because of me."

Akeno stared at the blond in disbelief. "That's your problem, Naruto! You kept thinking about how sour things would turn out! Or how bad things are bound to happen! What about happy endings? Who gives you the right to make all the decisions by yourself?"

"This world isn't daisy and rainbows, Akeno-chan!" Naruto was seething in frustration; he couldn't tell her that heaven and hell would do anything to make sure he's dead. He couldn't even tell her that those who are associated with him would be used against him. "I did what I did to protect you! Akeno-chan, listen to me, give me a chance to redeem myself. I'll do anything -"

"I'm done listening." Akeno spun around, but the blond had caught her wrist. She snapped her fierce glare at him and growled. "Let go!"

"I'm not gonna let you go anymore!"

Akeno wrestled to break free from Naruto's firm grip, and in their struggle, she missed her footing and fell from the stairs. The blond dexterously seized Akeno's wrist and tried to pull her back to him, but it wasn't enough, and the blond didn't have enough time to think, so he wrapped his class president protectively in his arms and fell with her.

When Akeno regained her bearings and opened her eyes, to her horror, Naruto was laying on the cold pavement, his arms were still snaked around her curvaceous body; she gasped apprehensively when she realised the blond had cushioned her fall and took the blunt of the impact all by himself. In her panic, she jolted up and caressed his bruised cheeks. "N-Naruto-kun! W-Wake up! Why are you so stupid! You shouldn't have done that! N-Naruto! I-I… wouldn't know what to do if something happens to you. Please, wake up -"

Akeno hammered her fists desperately on Naruto's broad chest, trying her hardest to resuscitate him back to life.

"A-Alright, alright -" The blond coughed and opened an eye groggily. "I'm fine, but if you keep hitting my chest like that, I'm gonna die of internal bleeding."

"W-Why…?" Akeno looked away.

"I can't let anything bad happens to you, right?" Naruto groaned weakly and hissed in pain as he nursed his throbbing forehead. "Arh. I really didn't expect that fall though."

Akeno smiled in relief and shook her head. "Don't you ever do that."

"Do what? Let you fall on your own?" Naruto chuckled weakly. "The whole class- No, the whole school will kill me if I willingly let you fall without doing anything about it. Besides, it would hurt me more if I know you're hurt."

Akeno felt her heart almost melted and averted her gaze, trying to hide her flustered cheeks with her long raven hair. "You know you're very cheesy, right?"

"As long as it gets me laid, I'm fine being cheesy." Naruto guffawed as Akeno playfully smacked his chest.

"So, why the sudden change of heart?"

Naruto sprawled on the floor and threw a hand behind his head. "An old man told me I was being a coward. That really knock some my senses back to me. I guess I have been running away from my own problems for a long time. I'm done running. I want to do something about it."

"I'm willing to be there for you and fight with you if you want me to. That's my duty as class president."

The blond abruptly sat up and faced the raven-haired girl, their noses were inches apart. "Really? It is just because you're my class president or is there something else you're not telling?"

Akeno instinctively glanced down at Naruto's lips and felt a sudden need to feel them with hers. She tried to maintain eye-contact with his dauntless and penetrating gaze, but the heat in her cheeks were making her uncomfortable with it. Naruto chuckled, climbed to his feet, helping Akeno along his way, and dusted her blouse. "Thanks for forgiving me."

"Who said I've forgiven you?"

"Whhhhaaattttt?" Naruto stared at Akeno incredulously. "We had a chummy moment. We should do something it. Like a celebratory hug or something?"

"No. You get none." Akeno folded her arms, raised her head up high, and walked away, all the while she was trying desperately not to let him see her grin.

"Oi! I'm not leaving without a hug or something! I'll work all night if that means getting a hug from you! You hear me? Oi!"

-Devil Game-

When Naruto reached home, he did not expect to be greeted by Kalawarner, who was dressed in nothing but an apron that only barely managed to cover her modesty and Raynare, who chose to walk around his house in bikini. Naruto let out an exhausted sigh and deadpanned. "Do I want to know why you -" He shot a dry look at a sheepish Kalawarner. "- are wearing… this?"

"We had a water-gun fight! It was epic!" Raynare quipped, but pouted. "But our clothes were wet, so we have to resort wearing this. I actually want to ditch the bikini, but Kala said you wouldn't like it."

"Okay, firstly, no water-gun fight in this house. Secondly, Kala-chan is right. Try to dress like a human if you can."

Kalawarner cleared her throat. "Umm… Naruto-sama, I prepared dinner. You want some?"

Naruto was about to reject it, because he had eaten with his new friend, but he wouldn't want to say no. It was nice having home-cooked meals prepped on the table when he got home. Usually, he would had gotten his dinner at Izanagi's Shin Ramen. Naruto smile appreciatively and nodded at Kalawarner, whose face lit up in happiness. "Yeah, that would be nice."

Saying Naruto didn't regret eating Kalawarner's cooked food was the understatement of the century. She had braised the roast duck to perfection; who would have thought blueberry could be used as sauce for the dish. Her steamed fish was showered with the gravy of wonder and the spicy tender lamb-shank drizzled with red wine was something to behold. She even made noodles from sweet bean curd skin. "Did you cook all these by yourself?"

Kalawarner nodded and smiled. "D-Do you want to try?"

"Yeah, I would love to." Naruto grabbed his chopstick and tried the duck skin. When the meat enter his mouth, he was astonished and flabbergasted by the mixture of taste. It was as if his mouth was enjoying an orgasm or some sort. "W-What in the world is this? This…"

Kalawarner widened her eyes in terror. "I-Is it not up to your liking, Naruto-sama? It can't be! It should -"

"This is wonderful! It probably can give my ramen a run for its money. Wait, why are you girls waiting for? Try it!"

Raynare and Kalawarner, who were standing in formation beside the blond, were astounded. "You want us to dine with you?"

Naruto blinked. "Yeah…?"

Raynare shook her head and fidgeted with her fingers. "We're your servants, Naruto-sama. We don't have the right -"

"I did not make you my servants. You wanted to do it, but that doesn't mean I would treat you as such. Now sit down and eat!" Naruto chuckled as the two fallen angels scurried to their seats, picked up their utensils, bowed politely at him, and ate the food.

Naruto smiled.

It has been a while since he ate dinner at home.

He wouldn't mind getting used to it.

-Devil Game-

Naruto twisted the brass knob, pulled his bedroom door open, and sniffed the air. He was immediately on his guard when he sensed an unfamiliar presence lurking in his room. He had already laced his chamber with five layers of seals, ensuring it was soundproof, bombproof, and invader-proof. Whoever managed to intrude into the seal clearly knew how to manipulate senjutsu in order for him or her to bypass the security of his seals.

The blond closed the door behind him and spotted an anomaly on his bed; there was a human-size lump underneath his blanket and judging by the shape, it was clearly a female.

The blond pinched his nose, placed his hands on his hip, and felt his eyelid twitched as the 'lump' was shifting and giggling underneath the blanket.

He stormed towards his bed and peeled the blanket off, revealing a cat-girl in kimono trying her hardest to blink cutely at him. "Whatever you are, get out of my bed."

"Nya?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and tried to pull the cat-girl off his bed, but she was surprising strong. The blond narrowed his eyes and discerned something that he would never expect to exist flowing in the cat-girl's voluptuous body.

Chakra.

"Who are you?" The blond glowered at the cat-girl, who was unfazed of his fierce glare.

"Me nya? I'm Kuroka, nya!"

"Talk normal!"

Kuroka tilted her head, scratched her temple with her fingernail, and blinked. "Why Nya? What's wrong with my talking, nya?"

"Care to explain to me why are you able to use chakra? Your kinds should not be able to harness it." Naruto clicked his tongue. "No, nobody in this world is able to draw out the power of chakra. Why are you able to do it?"

Kuroka narrowed her eyes and licked her lips in a sensual manner. "No wonder _she_ wanted you dead nya."

Reacting to impulse, Naruto sidestepped a kick from Kuroka, who immediately chained her assault to a sudden pounce. The blond fluidly seized his assailant's shoulders and hurled her to the ceiling, but to his annoyance, she had lunged at him again. In a flash, Naruto had vanished into a golden brilliance and reappeared above a startled Kuroka.

The blond slammed a chakra-enhanced knee down his assailant's spine, earning him a satisfactory scream as she was pummelled to the ground. He didn't hesitate to pin her down on the floor with her hands behind her back, effectively restraining her with his herculean might. Without giving her a chance to retaliate, Naruto ripped the back of her kimono, revealing her lustrous skin to him, much to her consternation.

Kuroka had assumed the worse. She couldn't believe how easily it was for her to be subdued and now she was in the mercy of her enemy.

Naruto spread open his palm and channelled chakra into his hand, igniting cold fire on his fingertips. He slammed his palm on her back and the effect was instantaneous; a sophisticated seal was imprinted on her body, disabling her innate ability to draw chakra.

It was at this moment an entity in an expensive black suit had waltzed in Naruto's window with a dramatic flying kick, landed on his knees before the irritated blond as if he was paying respect to a king, and declared aloud. "My Lord, I have humbly returned from the mission you have assigned me. I came back on a haste because I received news that Ophis has dispatched one of her soldiers to have you executed. Allow me, Crom Cruach, the Dark Dragon of the Crescent Moon, the Black Dragon King, the Lieutenant of the Great and Almighty Trihexa, to protect you!"

Naruto resisted his urge to smack his forehead and groaned. "For the love of all ramen, would you stop that shit? Stand your ass up, Crom. I'm not your lord anymore."

"Yes, my king." Crom Cruach stood up and noticed his lord sitting atop a cat-girl. Suddenly, realisation dawned on the black dragon and he pointed a shaky finger at Kuroka. "There she is! She's the assassin, my king!"

"You're very slow, aren't ya?" Naruto sighed. "And stop calling me king."

"Yes boss. Forgive me for my tardiness. I should have come sooner, but I was so distracted with the newly launched apple-and-carrot flavoured KitKat. Do you know the new KitKat gives your palate a taste of apple and carrot at the same time? I mean, it will never be as awesome as your holiness's ramen, but it is awesome nonetheless. Care to try some?"

"No, and if you're unaware, we have a problem here." Naruto jerked his chin at the squirming cat-girl that he was sitting on.

"Yes, of course, how could I forget?" Crom Cruach pointed a finger at his face, stared at it intently, and mumbled to himself. "You are doing great, Crom-chan. I love you."

Naruto rolled his eyes and glanced down at Kuroka, who had conceded to her fate. "So, Ophis sent you to kill me?"

Kuroka chewed her lower lip and turned her face around, denying her assailant a chance to see her teary eyes. She knew what kind of mess she had ended herself with. Ophis had personally instructed her to flee if the weakened Great Beast of Apocalypse had managed to gain the upper-hand in their fights. She just didn't expect herself to be defeated so easily.

"Still playing the quiet game, huh?" Naruto sighed and wiped a sweat off his forehead. "How many times must I say this? I am weakened, but I am not weak. If that brat thinks I will keel over so easily, she got another thing coming."

Crom Cruach growled. "Boss, do you want me to personally interrogate this wench?"

"Naw. She'll talk, eventually. I've already sealed her chakra away. Without me, this kitty won't be getting her chakra back any time soon." Naruto's smirk widened to disturbing degree as Kuroka tried to struggle again to no avail. Without her chakra, she was basically a defenceless cat with her claws ripped off. "I personally recommend you to talk before this gentleman over here starts torturing your ass for sport."

Crom Cruach cracked his knuckles menacingly and grinned at the perturbed Kuroka. "Yes, kitty. I will never forgive those who try to kill my boss. My boss has showed you his kindness by sparing your life… for now. If I were you, I would take this opportunity to reconsider this nasty predicament you're in and do what's best for yourself to stay alive. Because if you don't do as what my boss said, I will show you EXACTLY why I was once an evil dragon king."

Kuroka chewed her trembling lip and surveyed the room frantically to cling on something, anything, but there was none. Naruto clicked his tongue and removed himself from the frightened and jittery cat-girl's back, startling her. She scrambled to the corner of the room and hugged her knees, her lithe frame was rocking back and forth.

Naruto arched a brow and glanced at Crom Cruach, who was studying the girl in piqued curiosity. "What's with her?"

The Black Dragon King pondered for a while before he whispered conspiratorially to his boss. "I think it's most likely PTSD. She's suffering withdrawal or something. Did she tell you her name?"

"Kuroka, I think."

"Ah." Crom Cruach raised a finger, as if a proverbial light bulb had just lit up. "Rumours had it that she had a sister and they were both orphans during the Great War. Children of casualties, they say. Her former master found her and her younger sister trapped in a cellar. Apparently, the cellar was once a makeshift torture chamber operated by the devils. They were locked into that hellhole for almost a week before they were rescued."

"Former master?" Naruto cocked a brow.

"Yes." Crom Cruach nodded. "She murdered him. They said that she was intoxicated with her newfound powers and committed treason at the highest level. Now, she's a wanted fugitive in the underworld."

The blond sighed. "She doesn't seem like the type though."

"What type? The type who gets drunk in her own powers?"

"No." Naruto corrected and caught a glimpse of Kuroka's haunted eyes. Those were the kind of eyes that had seen countless horror. "The type that betrays her benefactor. Something must have happened that triggered it. Look at her. She's shivering and scared. Does she look like that type of person who would betray someone who saved her life?"

Crom Cruach shrugged. "Who knows? War does shit to people's brains."

Naruto raked a hand through his unkempt hair and blew out a tired sigh. "I'll figure something out tomorrow."

"Very well. I'll take my leave." The Black Dragon King nodded, stood at his full height, and folded his arms. "By the way, why are you the only one living in this building? Last I checked, the previous owner of the building vacated the place quite a while ago."

The blond shrugged. "Yeah, it was haunted. Like legit haunted. Apparently, some demons decided that this place would be a nice campsite for them to feed on human souls. I slaughtered all of them and made this place mine. Figured nobody would dare live in here anyway, so I moved in. I like the peace and quiet."

"That sounds very badass."

"What are you on about? I _am_ badass."

-Devil Game-

Naruto prided himself being an asshole, but he wasn't that kind of guy to let a shivering and terrified girl to sleep in the cold, even if said girl tried to kill him less than eight hours ago. He had given up his blanket for her and even urged the scared girl to sleep on her bed, but her withdrawal symptoms were worse than he thought. Robbing her chakra away had really put a toll on her psyche, but it couldn't be helped.

He decided to get some cereal and milk for the cat-girl, who was currently sleeping in a foetal position with a blanket draped over her body.

When he opened his door, he was surprised to see Kalawarner and Raynare standing at his doorstep, their jaws were hanging and their wobbly feet gave in to the pressure. They fell into their knees and glanced fearfully at him. Kalawarner swallowed the lump of trepidation in her throat and bit her nail. "N-Naruto-sama… is it true?"

"Uhh…?" Naruto blinked. "I'm not sure what this means but -"

"T-The Black Dragon King showed up just now." Raynare hugged her frame with her trembling hands and peered up. "He told us you're the Beast of Apocalypse, Trihexa."

Naruto palmed his face and groaned. "That idiot."

As if on cue, Crom Cruach ducked out his head from the doorway and flashed his boss an oblivious grin. "Morning, boss! Did you have a great sleep last night? By the way, I got great news for you! I found out a way to restore your powers! You wanna hear it?"

* * *

Pairings:

1.) NarutoXAkeno  
2.) NarutoXGabriel  
3.) NarutoXSeekvaira  
4.) NarutoXRias  
5.) NarutoXRaynare  
6.) NarutoXKalawarner  
7.) NarutoXRossweisse  
8.) NarutoXKuroka  
9.) NarutoXHarem

Please let me know what you think by dropping a review below. :D


	5. Dawn of the Titan

Crom Cruach stood in the corner of the room, glaring daggers at an impassive Naruto, who was ignoring him for the past ten minutes by reading his textbook at his desk. The Black Dragon King knew very well his boss was aware of his presence, but was deliberately pretending he didn't exist, so he relinquished his pent-up fury and exclaimed aloud. "LOOK AT ME!"

Naruto almost jolted in shock… almost. The blond pinched his nose, shook his head, and continued reading, despite knowing Crom Cruach had decided to stand a few inches away from him, if his loud and blatantly frustrated breathing was anything to go by.

"Boss, I know you know that I'm here. Why don't you want to hear what I want to say? Don't you want your powers restored?"

The blond shot the black dragon a death look and growled. "Why did you tell the girls who I really was?"

Crom Cruach picked his nose with his pinkie and shrugged, further aggravating the blond for his insouciance. "I thought you told them all about you. Hey, it's not my fault that you secretly keep two rogue fallen angels in your house without telling me. I thought I was your number one super subordinate, not those skanky bimbos! I am supposed to know everything there is to know about you and your daily life! Where is the love, boss?"

Naruto rolled his eyes when Crom Cruach shook his shoulders for the dramatic effect and pouted at him. The blond conceded with a tired sigh; it was nearly impossible for him to be angry at the eccentric Black Dragon King. "You are still my number one super subordinate."

"Yes!" Crom Cruach did a victory fist pump and bellowed. "I knew it! Boss, words will not describe how lucky I am to know that I still hold such valuable place in your heart. I think I might have to go hide in the pantry and cry for thirty minutes. No! An hour! A FULL hour of youthful tears!"

The blond shook his head and tried his best not to slap the senses out of his subordinate's mind. "Stop making things gay, Crom. It's not you. Now, tell me the plan."

Crom Cruach blinked in confusion. "Plan? What plan? That plan that I was thinking about sneaking into the KitKat factory and steal a year-worth of chocolate wonders?"

Naruto deadpanned. "Crom…"

"Just kidding!" The Black Dragon King smirked, but his face turned solemn suddenly. "But I am totally going to sneak into that KitKat factory down the street and -"

"Just tell me what the plan is!" Naruto interjected heatedly.

"Right!" Crom Cruach smiled and gave his boss a mock salute. "During my trip, I gathered some information about God's 666 Seal. Apparently, it is unbreakable and it can only be opened by a key. Rumours had it that only God knows where the key is. Some said He threw it away. Others claimed the key was destroyed when He was killed by you. I'm not sure what is true anymore, so I dug deeper."

The black dragon made a dramatic pause by clearing his throat. "My sources have claimed that there is one other entity in this universe who is trapped by the same seal. Well, for his case, he is physically trapped inside the seal, while for your case, it is your powers that are trapped. Still, the architecture and mechanical structure are fundamentally the same. I believe this prisoner will have profound insight about your seal."

Naruto arched a brow. "Who is this prisoner you speak of?"

"Samael, the Dragon Eater."

"So, let me take a wild guess here, you are going to propose that we go and find Samael? How are we going to do that when nobody knows where he is? If anything, he could be dead or worse!" Naruto slumped into his seat and shook his head dejectedly. "This is impossible."

"Fret not, boss. He is alive and I know where exactly he is." Crom Cruach smirked triumphantly.

Naruto eyed his subordinate dubiously and folded his arms. "So, pray tell, where is the Dragon Eater?"

It was at that moment their conversation was disrupted when Raynare opened the door and she meekly took a step into the dimly-lighted room. "Naruto-sama?"

Crom Cruach gritted his teeth. "We're having a moment here, you monster! Have some decency!"

"Umm…"

Naruto noticed that Raynare had been very jumpy when he was around. The disclosure of his identity had frightened the fallen angel quite a bit and she had unfortunately unable to digest the information for the past two hours. The blond really needed to calm her down later. For now, he had pressing things to discuss with the Black Dragon King. He turned his attention to the fallen angel and smiled. "What is it?"

"Do you want lunch? Kala and I made cottage pie and mango puddings and we are just wondering if you want some."

The blond nodded. "Yeah, sure, I'll come over just a sec. I was about to finish discussing something important with Crom."

Raynare bowed politely at Naruto and hastily scurried out of his room, much to his displeasure.

"She probably thinks I'm huge." Crom Cruach flexed his biceps and kissed his bulging muscle. "Check these guns out. I'm a beast."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Last I checked, I'm _the_ beast, not you. And for the record, you probably scare her more than you know. Now you were saying?"

"Oh, yes. He is in hell right now. God has carved out a little section of hell to house the great Dragon Eater."

The blond deflated. "So we have to go to hell? For real?"

"Yep! Pretty literal, actually. Don't worry. I know the routes." Crom Cruach beamed at the blond and placed his fist on his chest. "Trust me, I know how to sneak into hell without being detected. My best record for exploring hell without getting caught was seven days, fifteen hours, forty minutes, and twenty-four seconds. I disguised myself as a moose with a red ribbon tied around my head. All the demons thought I was a freak, so they ignored me for the most part."

Naruto didn't even bother asking what Crom Cruach was doing in hell; the Black Dragon King was once notorious for being the strongest amongst the evil dragons, surpassing the likes of Azi Dahaka and Apophis in terms of raw strength and power, so the blond had never felt the need to be concerned about his subordinate's wellbeing. "How do you propose we go about it?"

"Hell, contrary to popular belief, has a backdoor. I know where it is."

"Then it's settled. We'll go to hell and meet Samael after lunch." Naruto stood up from his seat and strolled to the door, but was puzzled when Crom Cruach slid open his window. "Where are you going?"

The Black Dragon King blinked quizzically. "You said lunch. I was thinking of going outside to -"

"You're eating lunch with us."

Crom Cruach sniffed loudly and wiped a tear from his eye. "My respect for you is like a burning turkey, boss. You are willing to lower your standard just so you could eat your meals with me! I am going to burn this place to the ground just so I could feel manly again!"

Naruto stared at Crom Cruach with exhausted eyes. "I don't get the turkey phrase. Should I be glad?"

"Of course. Have you seen a burning turkey before? A live burning turkey? I did, because I set one on fire before! They flutter their wings like this -" The Black Dragon King made small flapping gestures with his hands and beamed. "- when they're on fire. They're very wild like that, just like my passion and loyalty for you."

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "I believe most living things become 'fluttery' and 'wild' when you set them on fire."

"Not as much as a turkey. I would know because I set many things on fire before."

"How many turkeys have you murdered for your sick and twisted pleasure?"

"Plenty." Crom Cruach answered matter-of-factly. "And I did it not for my pleasure. I did it because I could!"

Naruto palmed his face, spun around, opened the door, and strolled out. "Remind me never to elect you as president if you ever wished to become one. And Crom?"

"Yes boss?"

The blond turned to his subordinate and a shrewd grin curled at his lips. "Keep me in the loop about your KitKat operation. I want in."

Crom Cruach's grin widened to impossible degree. "You are a man after my own heart, boss."

-Devil Game-

Lunch was unnerving for Kalawarner and Raynare, but they were faring better than Kuroka, who almost had a nervous breakdown when she spotted Naruto staring at her. The fallen angels felt sorry for the skittish cat-girl, despite knowing she was the assassin sent by the Infinity Dragon to murder their saviour. Unlike what rumours had speculated and scandalised about Kuroka, at her current state, she was probably more harmless than a mouse.

Kalawarner bit her nail and glanced down at her bowl of steaming soup. She couldn't believe it, but it all made sense. Crom Cruach, the legendary king of the evil dragons, was submitting his will to someone of a greater power. That was the nature of life. The weaker one would be subservient to the strong; in this case, Naruto was Trihexa and thus it made him universally the strongest amongst the strong. It was also the reason why Kokabiel never stood a chance!

She just couldn't comprehend the fact that she had been living with him for almost a week now and he had not once flaunted his accolades at anybody. The blond was modest and kind, unlike how the world had portrayed him. Kalawarner was bewildered, because it made sense and it didn't at the same time.

Naruto harrumphed, catching the attention of every occupant in the dining hall. "I would like to formally declare that I was Trihexa, the Beast of Apocalypse. I am not proud of who I was and I know this might be too much for you to take in, but I bear you no ill-will. You are welcome to stay and you are welcome to leave. The choices are yours."

Raynare swallowed hard and clenched her fists. "Why did you kill our Father?"

"He tried to kill me too. I couldn't just stand there and let him smite me because he felt like it, right?" Naruto sighed and shot Crom Cruach a cold glare. He wanted to avoid having this conversation with the girls, no thanks to his subordinate's ignorance. Much to his chagrin, Crom Cruach mistook his glare as a stare of acknowledgement and gave him a thumb-up. The blond shook his head and nursed his temples. "Any more questions?"

"Y-Yes." Kalawarner blinked. "What are you going to do to her? I mean, isn't she an assassin?"

Everybody stared at Kuroka, who was overwhelmed by the sudden attention and winced.

"I'm not going to do anything to her. I would need you two to help me take care of her for now."

Raynare tilted her head in confusion. "But she tried to kill you."

Crom Cruach and Naruto shared a look, before they broke into a light-hearted guffaw, further confusing the fallen angel.

The Black Dragon King ceased his laughter and grinned at Raynare. "She is nowhere near the level to kill boss. Besides, now that boss has taken away her powers, she is like a feeble human."

Naruto, who happened to be sitting beside the terrified Kuroka, reached his hand slowly to her, who flinched and hid her face in her hands. She was surprised when the blond was ruffling her dishevelled hair with an affectionate smile. She subconsciously leaned forward and purred. "See? I told you. She's harmless. But I believe she has reverted back to what she was before. So I would need the two of you to help me take care of her. Will that be too much to ask?"

"N-No!" Kalawarner yelped. "Raynare and I will look after her. For you, Naruto-sama."

The blue-haired fallen angel felt her cheeks heated up when the blond smiled at her. "Thanks, Kala-chan. Ray-chan, what about you?"

Raynare regained her composure and let out a weak chuckle. "Don't worry, Naruto-sama. We won't be the evil stepmother to her, that's for sure."

"Good to know."

Crom Cruach pouted. "Nobody cares that I am the Black Dragon King? Anyone?"

"Ah, yes." Naruto chuckled. "I almost forgot to introduce you girls to Crom. This is Crom Cruach. He was formerly an evil dragon. He now works for me."

The Black Dragon King stood up abruptly, startling Kuroka, who scrambled to Naruto and cowered behind him. The blond pinched his nose as his subordinate flexed his muscles like he was muscle modelling. "I am the great and charming black dragon that was revered as the Dark Dragon of the Crescent Moon. People trembled in fear when they heard my name. I am fire! I am… Death!"

Naruto deadpanned. "You took the last line from Smaug."

"Hey! I do whatever I want!"

"I didn't know you read The Hobbit." Naruto sighed. "Anyway, let's get started before the food turns cold."

Crom Cruach jolted up from his seat, turned to the fallen angels abruptly, bowed almost at a 45 degree angle, and exclaimed. "Please take good care of boss. He may be a self-centred and know-it-all prick, but he means good! You won't regret serving him!"

The blond narrowed his eyes. "I'm still here, you know."

Kalawarner and Raynare nervously reciprocated the gesture with a bow of their own. "W-We will."

Naruto shook his head and turned his attention to Kuroka, who was still shaking behind him. He softened his gaze and caressed her flushed cheeks, pulling her into his embrace as he cooed gently into her ears. "No one is going to hurt you, Kuroka. That I promise you. But I need you to listen to Kala-chan and Ray-chan when I'm not around, okay? Can you do that for me?"

The black-haired cat-girl diverted her nervous gaze to the fallen angels before she nodded at the blond. He smiled affectionately at the cat-girl and kissed her forehead, causing her cheeks to blush five shades of crimson. "That's a good girl. Now go back to your seat and have your meal."

Kuroka nodded with a bright smile and rushed to her seat.

Unbeknownst to Naruto, Crom Cruach was smiling deviously. _"I understand what you mean, boss! So you want a harem, huh? Very well! I, your humble servant, shall make that happen for you! My loyalty to you is like the glorious sun! Always burning and shining its light upon the dark lands! Yes! YES! I shall be Sam and you will be Frodo! I will bring you to Mount Doom even if it kills me!"_

-Devil Game-

Lunch was eventful for Naruto. He was starting to like having his meals with familiar people around him. He used to eat by himself, but the sudden change wasn't bad at all. He wouldn't mind getting used to it. After lunch, Crom Cruach had ushered him to get back into the bedroom, because the Black Dragon King had to work on a teleportation spell that would lead them directly to Hell.

"You sure you know what you're doing?"

"Of course I do. I have already marked the gate to Samael's portal. All we need to do is to establish a link between your room and the mark at the gate. That way, we don't even need to cross the River of Styx to get into hell." Crom Cruach beamed as he placed a finger on the floor.

"That sounds awfully familiar."

The Black Dragon King shrugged. "Yeah, I took that idea from one of your teleportation techniques. It's the perfect scouting skills, I tell ya. Oh, here we go. Found it. Ready or not?"

"Uh, wait, I need to pack myself some instant ramen to -"

"Too late!"

A bright light enveloped the room, startling the blond. When the blinding brilliance dimmed down, they were already gone.

-Devil Game-

Naruto had expected a menacing, gothic gate to situate before him, but he was surprised to see an ordinary oaken door in the middle of a forest. He gave Crom Cruach a dubious look, stroked his chin, and pointed a finger at the door. "You sure this is it?"

"Yeah, pretty much. My sources have confirmed that this door leads to where Samael is. I came here personally to inspect the seals on the door. They bear a striking resemblance to the one on you." Crom Cruach grinned. "And if I'm correct, the seal will die off once it serves its purpose. The seal is very much intact on this door, so that means Samael is still alive."

The blond chuckled. "I can never expect less from you, Crom."

"Anything for you, boss."

Naruto nodded with a grateful smile and faced the oaken door. He knew the technicality of the seals. It was sentient, which meant that the seals recognised its prisoner, thus a breach of security was impossible. Any attempts to break the seal would be futile, simply because the seals simply could not be broken by brute force, thus it was very much indestructible. However, it had a loophole.

The blond pushed the door gently and it led them to an empty auditorium that had a plethora of empty seats that stretched all the way to its back. Crom Cruach, who was standing behind Naruto, studied the foreign environment and sniffed the air. "There's someone in here. I can't properly pinpoint where he is, but he is here, somewhere."

"Keep your guards up, Crom. He knows we're here." Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Understood, boss -"

"Quack quack…"

Naruto and Crom Cruach turned around sharply, but there was no one. "W-What was that?"

"Quack quack quack…"

The blond swallowed hard. "Alright, wherever you are, that's not funny!"

"Quackquackquackquackquackquackquack -"

"Stop trying to be Donald, Samael!" The Black Dragon King roared. "I know you're not a duck, because real ducks don't quack like you do, you imposter!"

Suddenly, a man in a duck costume materialised right before their faces, startling them in the process. They backpedalled and almost tumbled to the ground in a clumsy fashion. Naruto pointed a shaky finger at the duck-man and blinked. "S-Show yourself!"

"Pop-quiz! Would you like to be killed by a man-sized duck or a duck-sized man?"

Crom Cruach and Naruto blinked, pondered seriously at the question, shared a knowing look at each other, and retorted in unison. "Man-sized duck, duh! People would laugh at us if they know we got our ass handed over to a duck-size man!"

"Okay!" The duck-man gave Naruto and Crom Cruach a thumb-up before he removed the duck-helmet, revealing a very handsome bearded man with short-trimmed silver hair. "Hi! My name is Samael, but you can call me Loco-Duckie!"

Naruto and Samael stared at the legendary abomination of all creations incredulously. They expected something… more. Hell, they were ready to fight a two-headed dragon if they had to, but this was not what they had in mind. This dashing-looking entity looked exactly like a typical movie star, except he donned an absurd duck costume; Naruto and Crom Cruach just couldn't find the will to take the fearsome Dragon Eater seriously.

It was the Black Dragon King who decided to ask the obvious. "Are you sure you're _the_ Samael? The Dragon Eater who despises all dragons? The one who defied God's will? The one who gave us dragons a very bad name?"

Samael gave himself an appraising look, did a sturgeon face of approval, and smiled cheerily at Crom Cruach. "Well, the last time I checked, I am Samael the Dragon Eater. I wouldn't know who else would call themselves Samael here though. I mean, what's the odds of someone living here with me without me knowing? And if you're wondering why the costume, well, imagine if you're trapped in a prison for more than five millennium having nothing else better to do except thinking weird-shit up just to keep yourself entertained. Would you be sane if you were me?"

Naruto and Crom Cruach shook their head dumbly.

"Thought so." Samael snapped his fingers and the spacious auditorium vanished, as if the sunlight had just blinked out on them. Suddenly, Naruto and Crom Cruach found themselves in an empty posh restaurant that was situated at the highest level of a skyscraper. Samael, who was still dressed in his duck-costume, swirled his glass of red wine and smiled at his visitors. "You two have been staring at me for quite a while."

"Uhh… Nothing." Naruto chuckled; a lunatic in a duck costume drinking wine just looked so out-of-place. "I just thought you would be -"

"I would be more like Barney the Dinosaur?"

The blond blinked. "Yeah. No. Uhh…"

Samael did a poor imitation of Barney by waving both of his hands and feigning an accent. "I love you. You love me. We are one big fam -"

"Okay, I get it. Don't sing that song. Ever."

"Why not?"

"Yeah." Crom Cruach cocked a quizzical brow at his boss. "Why not? What's wrong with Barney? I like him too."

Naruto heaved out a peeving sigh and tried his hardest not to scream out loud at his oblivious subordinate. He calmed his frustration down and attempted to smile at Samael. "We thought you would be more scary-looking. They did say you eat dragons for breakfast."

"Psst!" Samael waved his hand. "That's old school man. Loco-Duckie is the next big thing. Besides, I could say the same thing about you too, Great Beast of Apocalypse. Unlike me, you eat gods for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and supper. Now that's like twenty times more scary than me."

"That's all in the past now. I would prefer if you call me Naruto."

Samael nodded. "Then I, too, would prefer if you call me Sammy. I don't like formality."

"I want in too!" Crom Cruach announced aloud. "I'm Crom Cruach, but you can call me Crommy."

Samael beamed. "Yeah? Sammy and Crommy, sounds like we can be homies!"

Naruto palmed his face and groaned. "I did not expect this."

"I believe you -" Samael pointed a finger at Naruto. "- are here to ask me for a favour, right? Probably something along the line of daddy's seal. You want me to help you break the same seal that dad put on me, right? Well, tough luck, but I can't even break my own seal. If I could, I would be out by now."

Crom Cruach frowned. "But you didn't even examine boss's seals, Sammy. How could you just give up without trying?"

Samael sighed. "You don't understand, Crommy. I have studied my Father's seal for the past millennium. It is unbreakable. The seals serve as a warden to its prisoner. I believe you, Naruto, know about this, don't you? The seal knows who or what its prisoner is. Others can intrude, but they can't get me out. There is also no off-switch for this seal. You have to decipher and break the seals all by yourself. Do you understand how complex these seals are, Crommy?"

Naruto's eyelid twitched as he couldn't fathom how Crom Cruach could address Samael with such familiarity. Yes, Samael wanted to be called Sammy, but it was just plain weird to call him that without knowing him well. It's like giving a stranger nicknames without being acquainted with him. Naruto shook his head; and he thought he was weird. "Regardless, the key lies in deciphering the seals. Do you have a formula for it or something?"

"It's redundant. Everything is hopeless! Don't you get it? We're doomed! And I will be trapped in here… alone and sad… forever… and… and… and… ARGH -" Samael broke into a wailing frenzy, much to Naruto and Crom Cruach's annoyance. They leaned back into their seats and were mumbling to themselves, unaware that Samael was leaning towards them.

"QUACK QUACK MOTHAFUCKA'!" Samael hollered right to Naruto and Crom Cruach's face, eliciting their shock.

"Hah! Got ya, didn't I?" The crazy fallen angel snickered. "Sixty-percent of the time that trick works all the time."

For Naruto, he was irritated beyond cognisant.

For Crom Cruach, he was delighted. "Whoa! You got me there real good. I almost thought you're really crying!"

"Really?" Samael chuckled, took a sip from his wine, and sighed in content. "I also thought the same. I'm glad I was able to give you guys some good old jump-scare!"

"Yeah, it almost gave me a heart attack! Good work, Sammy." Crom Cruach blinked as an epiphany struck him. "But if you really did give me a heart attack, then you might go and marry my wife, which I haven't gotten one yet. It makes me sad, but if my future wife is meant to be with somebody, I want her to be with you."

Samael smiled. "That's nice, Crommy. You are a true broth -"

"Yeah, but I didn't really die though. See, I pretended to die so I could come back and spy on you. I stalked your house for three months straight outside your porch without you knowing! I wanted to beat your ass so much, but I know you made my future wife happy, so I walked away. I have too." Crom Cruach took in a deep breath as he started to believe in his story. "I stopped spying on you and went travelling around the world to seek for some spiritual comfort."

Naruto blinked. "Uhh, Crom, I don't think -"

"You were out living with my wife while I was exploring this cruel world all by myself! I thought we were brothers, Sammy! I THOUGHT WE WERE BROTHERS!"

"Alright! Time up." Naruto turned to face an irate Crom Cruach and scowled. "No one is getting under your wife's pants, Crom. I'm gonna need you to take your fantasy for a long walk right now."

The blond twisted his attention to Samael and pointed a finger at him. "And you. I'm not sure how you got access to movies like Anchorman, but I'm going to follow my hunch and say there is more to this than you let on. Let me take a wild guess here. God didn't lock you up here, did He? You were tasked to come in here by yourself."

"You are one smart fella, Naruto. Too perspicacious for your own good, if I may." Samael sighed and raised both of his hands. "You caught me. That's right. I fell because I was told to do so. Dad wants me to give humanity choices. He doesn't want to take away their freedom to make decisions, so He tasked me, his most devoted son, to seduce the first humans."

Naruto however noticed something odd about Samael. He emanated and exhibited tremendous powers that he didn't even bother to hold back, yet he harboured no ill-intent, and most of all, he resembled that of a higher angel. If Naruto was any lesser, he would be physically crushed by Samael's mere presence. Naruto crossed his legs and rest his cheek on the base of his fist. "So you were once an archangel?"

Samael nodded with a Cheshire grin tugged at his lips. "Bingo! Younger than big bro Mike, but older than cheeky little Lucy. Dad loved them best, but He knows they can't do what I do. Mikey loves the attention and always want to make people believe he's the supreme leader or something. Lucy has a knack of asking too much questions, so when he started a rebellion, dad wasn't very surprised about it. He knew I am the only one who can be trusted, so he asked me to do him this favour. Actually, he asked me for many favours, now that I think about it."

The blond arched his brow as the Dragon Eater mused aloud. "Yeah… I remembered. I was the one who made the Michael's Sword. God asked me to enchant the sword with my blood as a gift for Mikey."

Crom Cruach stroked his chin. "Why you?"

"Because I am the Poison of God." Samael puffed out his chest and flashed his visitors a conceited grin. "They don't call me the Dragon Eater for nothing. My blood contains a toxin that can kill you within a fraction of a second upon physical contact. That is the reason why I could easily slaughter dragons if I want. But that's a story for some other day. Let's get down to business. Although I can't break through this seal that holds me prisoner, I know how it works."

Naruto blinked. "You want to help me? I thought you said you couldn't do it."

"Nah, uh, uh! I said I didn't know how to break mine, but I didn't say I don't know how to break yours. It is true that both of our seals are fundamentally the same, but their functions are different. Besides, you said it yourself. I came in here myself. God didn't take away my archangel mojo. I still have all of it, which means I can do much more than you can imagine. You would be surprised just how powerful I am."

"How do we know you're being sincere?" Crom Cruach was sceptical. "For all we know, you could be on God's side and are trying to mess up boss's seals."

"Psst." The Dragon Eater waved his hand dismissively. "I am on no one's side. Not Mikey's, not Lucy's. I'm not even on dad's side. I told myself that whoever becomes my first visitor shall have my eternal loyalty. I don't care who, really. It could even be Barney the Dinosaur. I just didn't imagine you, the Beast of Apocalypse, to be the one. Besides, I really have nothing to do here. It would be nice to have something to do for a change."

Naruto nodded with a smile. "I understand."

The blond removed his shirt, pumped chakra into his fingertips, and slammed it on his stomach. Instantly, his body was covered with arrays of seals that let out a faint glow. Samael squint as he examined the seals decorated on Naruto's body and scratched his chin contemplatively. "From what I can deduce, dad only managed to take away half of your powers. The seals implanted into you is pretty much a watered-down version of mine. Therefore, he didn't take away everything."

"Half?" Naruto arched a brow. "That's impossible. On my best day, I can only pump out at most 30 percent of my powers."

"Yeah. That made senses. I won't stress you with the details, but I know how to help you get back the leftover 20 percent. In the meanwhile, I would figure a way to help you break your seals. Yours would be heaps easier to break compared to mine. But no promises though." Samael folded his hands.

The blond removed his hand from his abdomen and cocked a brow. "So what's the solution?"

"You would need someone to beat the shit out of your face."

Naruto felt his fingers twitched. "You're joking, right?"

"No, I'm dead serious. You need to forcefully break the dam that is holding your tide back. That's the only way. I will tell you eventually why that is so, but for now, get someone to beat the shit out of you." Samael sighed as he realised the blond was unconvinced. "To break it down into layman terms, you would need someone to push you to your absolute limit. I know it sounds strange, but that's the only way."

"I understand. I'll work on that." Naruto spun around and beckoned Crom Cruach to follow.

"Hey, Sammy." The blond called out.

Samael turned to the blond and quirked a brow. "Yeah?"

"I'll come back some other day to visit you. And I'll bring some ramen with me. You should try some. It's really good."

It had been a long time since Samael could muster a genuine smile; he had almost forgotten how it felt to be hopeful for once. "Yeah, that would be nice."

-Devil Game-

When Naruto and Crom Cruach stepped out of the oaken door, they found themselves back into the humid forest.

"All those talking really made me want to pee. Is there a toilet here or something?" Naruto shifted uncomfortably.

Crom Cruach surveyed his vicinity frantically, searching for a nearby loo, but there was none. "D-Damn it! This place is too isolated. I think you might need to do it at the bush over there, boss."

"Okay -"

"Stop right there!"

Naruto and Crom Cruach froze.

They slowly turned around and was stunned by the appearance of a very beautiful raven-haired woman, dressed in a very revealing bronze armour that outlined her ample bosom and voluptuous figure. She had unparalleled pulchritudinous features and a captivating pair of crimson eyes. Her oversized ebony black cape was fluttering behind her as she stood under the bright sky, glaring viciously at them.

"This territory belongs to the Sitri clan. No one is allowed to set foot here, not even if they have a warrant. Who are you? Speak or I will vanquish thy!" The woman struck a pose and winked at the blond. "For I am Serafall Leviathan, quaver before me!"

"No." Naruto deadpanned.

Serafall blinked in confusion. "Why not?"

"Because I don't really care who you are and I really need to go to the toilet."

The Satan puffed her cheeks in fuming rage, unable to tolerate being dismissed so nonchalantly by the blond. She regained her composure, crossed her arms, and smirked deviously. "I see now. You must have realised that I am one of the Four Great Satan, so you want to pee yourself out of fear. It's okay, I understand how fearful you are. I would be scared if I were you."

"So does that mean I can go take a leak over there?"

"W-What? No!" Serafall bolted towards Naruto and came to a halt right before him. She placed her hands on her hip and gave the blond an appraising look, albeit in scrutiny. "I'm not going to let you do as you pleased. You will pee only with my permission."

Crom Cruach scowled and approached Serafall with an outstretched hand. "Hey, I don't care who – ARGH!"

The Satan didn't even acknowledge the Black Dragon King when she delivered a punch across his jaw with monstrous might, sending him flying a few miles across the widespread field and crashing into an enormous rock. Serafall dusted her hands and addressed the unnerved blond with triumphant gaze. "Now that he's gone, it's just you and me. Tell me who you are or I'll behead you, evildoer!"

Naruto gritted his teeth. _"To think that I would encounter one of the Four Great Satan. What are the odds anyway? Damn it. I can't let her know who I am or shit would get real. That means I cannot let her witness what I'm capable of before she puts two and two together and figures out I'm still alive. Maybe I can try and convince her to let me go pee. I'll use that as distraction to get Crom and me out of here. Sounds like a plan."_

Serafall leaned forward and arched a brow. "What are you thinking for so long? Why are you not telling me who you are? Why are you trespassing Sitri's territory? Answer me, scum!"

"Can I answer all your questions after I pee? I really need to pee."

"No! You can't!" Serafall tapped her cheek, before an impish grin played about her lips. "Well, I would permit you to pee if you choose to do it here."

Naruto covered his chest and shot Serafall an accusing look. "What? Are you a pervert or something?"

The Satan blushed and shook her head fervently. "No, I'm not a pervert! I don't know what you would do if I let you go pee by yourself. You might make a break for it when I'm not looking. You're my prey and that means you only do things when I tell you to do. No prey of mine is going to escape from me, got it?"

Naruto chewed his lips. This was not going well for him. His bladder was about to burst and Serafall was being unreasonably stubborn.

 _"Fine. If this is how she wants to play…"_ Naruto did the unthinkable and abruptly took off his pants, shocking Serafall. She waved her hand in frantic fright, trying to cover her eyes with her fingers, but failed miserably. The blond stifled his victorious grin behind a schooled expression as Serafall was suffering a panic frenzy.

"W-What are you doing?"

"I pee like that." Naruto cocked his brow. "What? Guys pee like this. Don't you know? Taking a leak without your pants on is the best feeling ever."

"I-Idiot! Y-You think you can lie to me like that? Don't think you are better than me just because you just whipped out your... your disgusting junk out!"

The blond smirked. _"I knew it. She is too pure and innocent to know these stuff. I just have to keep her distracted long enough for me to -"  
_  
In the midst of her confusion, Serafall shut her eyes and reached out for Naruto in an attempt to strike him, but she tripped in her footing and tumbled forward. The blond instinctively caught her elbows, but she had slipped from his grasp and hastily grabbed something to stop her fall. Serafall didn't know she had accidentally tugged on Naruto's boxers and fell on her buttocks, not knowing that she had inadvertently pulled down his undergarment.

Naruto couldn't suppress his urge any longer.

It was the greatest feeling ever, to relive himself and let it all poured out. It was as if his ravenous ocean had pierced through the once impenetrable dam and found freedom for itself. When Naruto regained his senses and glanced down, he was horrified to see Serafall sitting right before him and staring blankly off into space, her curvaceous body was drenched in his urine.

Serafall despised perverted men, partly because she accidentally saw her father's porn stash. She didn't know what they were and watched it, much to her horror, and the video had scarred her for life. She recalled how the despicable men would surround the hapless woman and slapped her face with their contemptible and dirty junks, right before spraying… stuff at her.

The Leviathan stared at her trembling hands and mumbled to herself. "I-I'm… dirtied. I'm… done. It's over… it's all over. I'm impure… Nobody will want a dirtied woman like me… It's over…"

Naruto swallowed hard, realising that Serafall was on the verge of losing her sanity. He knew he couldn't just leave her here, not after what he had just did, but she was one of the Four Great Satan for a reason; she was more than capable of taking care of herself. The blond hastily pulled his pants up, rummaged a handkerchief from his pants pockets, crouched down to meet her daze gaze, and wiped the urine off her face. "I-I'm sorry things turned out like this, but I really have to go. I'm really sorry!"

He warily ran to where Crom Cruach was and fled the scene, leaving a distraught Serafall to sob in the middle of the godforsaken forest all by herself.

-Devil Game-

After Naruto had told Crom Cruach what had transpired between him and the Satan, the Black Dragon King had been laughing for the past half an hour, much to his chagrin. "It's not that funny!"

"It is!" Crom Cruach choked in his guffaw. "You peed on one of the Four Great Satan, Serafall the Leviathan! Do you even know what that means?"

Naruto's face was heated up and he crossed his arms. "What?"

"You just champagne showered the Frost Queen of the Underworld! Oh, that's golden! Opps, that's a bad pun, but I'm sure you caught my drift." Crom Cruach cupped his mouth and stared wide-eyes at Naruto. "Oh wait! Serafall already caught your drift!"

The blond grumbled incoherent curses under his breath as his subordinate continued to mock him with his high-pitched laughter. "If you have time laughing, why don't you figure a way to help me get my training done, huh?"

Crom Cruach wiped the tears off his eyes and let out a blissful sigh. "Ah! Already on that, boss. I contacted two of my old buds to help us out. They should be here any minute now."

Naruto surveyed the barren wasteland and squared his shoulders; Crom Cruach had deliberately brought him to somewhere in Central Australia via his teleportation spell and told him that the desert terrain would be the perfect training ground for him. The blond sat atop a boulder and fanned himself with his hand. "Are they here yet?"

Suddenly, their surrounding was enveloped by a pair of massive shadows. Naruto and Crom Cruach glanced up; as if on cue, two dragons of titanic proportion had descended right before them, the impact of their fall thundered across the continent, brewing up dust clouds in the process. Naruto whistled in appreciation when the smoke was dispersed.

There stood two colossal dragons with intimidating features. The dragon with majestic purple scales that stood proudly on his two legs resembled a gallant warrior, if the armours adorned on its shoulders were anything to go by. The other one had a pair of condescending eyes as it surveyed its environment with blatant disgust and it carried itself with an air of nobility; its azure scales however sparkled like diamond under the bright sunlight

Crom Cruach smiled cheerfully and waved at the two dragons. "Hey! It has been a while. Glad you two showed up."

The Black Dragon King turned to Naruto and bowed politely. "Boss, may I introduce you to Tannin, the Blaze Meteor Dragon. He was once a Commander of the Imperial Dragons. This is Tiamat, the Chaos Karma Dragon. She is otherwise known as the Great Dragon Empress Dowager and has been the sole sovereign amongst the dragons for quite a while."

Tannin nodded at the blond as a sign of respect for him. "I've heard many great things about you from Brother Cruach, son. It is an honour to train you."

Naruto gave the Blaze Meteor Dragon a two-finger salute and grinned. "It's a pleasure to have you as my trainer, Tannin."

"You look too puny to be a scary monster. I hope you lived up to your once fearsome reputation, Beast of Apocalypse." Tiamat lowered her snout to inspect the blond with haughty eyes and licked her claw suggestively. "If it wasn't because I am obligated to return the favour to Crom-chan, I would have eaten you alive, peasant."

Crom Cruach chuckled as he jabbed with his thumb at Tiamat. "Ha! Did you hear that? She just called you a peasant, boss. Classic Tiamat. Don't mind her though. She acts all big-and-mighty because she is the strongest amongst the Five Dragon Kings. It's her job to have a stick up her ass. She is the reason why I have a bucket list. Wanna hear it?"

"Crom, can we focus on the problem here?"

The Black Dragon King quickly put up a serious face and clapped his hands, his voice became raspy. "Alright! Here's the deal, guys. My boss over here needs to be trained thoroughly. In order for him to break his limit, we will engage him in an all-out-battle. We will not stop until he collapses. I will put up a barrier around us so that nobody can interfere or leave. Rest assured, boss, that Tannin and Tiamat are more than capable of beating your ass."

Naruto however was perturbed when he noticed Tiamat had been staring at him intently. It wasn't the ferocity of her gaze that disturbed her, but the lascivious glint in her eyes that made his skin crawled. The blond coughed into his hand and exclaimed. "So, when do we start?"

Tannin crossed his arms. "Now. Lady Tiamat and I both owe Brother Cruach a favour. If he wants us to bring you back to shape, then back to shape you shall be."

"How are you going to do that?" Naruto swallowed hard and took a step back.

The Dragon Empress licked her snout, a lewd grin found its way on her mouth. "We are going to destroy your delicious ass over and over again. And if you die, I will retrieve your soul from the depths of hell and do it all over again. Don't worry though. Hades and Hel both owe me quite a lot of favours, so I got that covered."

"What the fuck does she mean by that? I didn't sign up for this crap just so I could get my ass killed."

Crom Cruach grasped Naruto's shoulder firmly and nodded at him. "Boss, as long as you survive this shit for three days and three nights, I guarantee you something will happen."

"I don't like the fact that you said, 'something will happen', and not 'your powers will return'. Should I be concerned?"

The Black Dragon King gave his boss a thumb-up and flashed him a bright smile. "Not at all, boss. Let the tortu -" Crom Cruach coughed abruptly. "Let the training begin!"

* * *

Author Note: I am so grateful to all my readers and supporters out there who have shown so much love for this story. I would continue to make this story great and I am open up to any advises and criticisms that you may have for this story. Some people have requested to add Ophis or Koneko into the pairings, but they both look like kids though.

Pairing:  
1.) NarutoXAkeno  
2.) NarutoXRias (I've concluded that not everybody likes her)  
3.) NarutoXGabriel (She is not a very popular choice, is she?)  
4.) NarutoXRaynare  
5.) NarutoXKalawarner  
6.) NarutoXRossweisse  
7.) NarutoXTiamat  
8.) NarutoXKuroka  
9.) NarutoXHarem

Please let me know what you think by dropping a review below. I would love to know what you think.


	6. The Despicable Truth

Tannin didn't hesitate to test his powers against the legendary Beast of Apocalypse. He swung his tail at the blond, attempting to crush him, but to his surprise, his opponent had caught his appendage. Naruto let out a war cry before he hurled the colossal dragon over his shoulder with herculean strength, stunning Tiamat in the process. Tannin flew across the sky and crashed into a nearby mountain, his pained groan reverberated throughout the field.

Tiamat grinned as she licked her claw, surveying the blond with piqued curiosity. "I underestimated you, Trihexa. Perhaps you are not as weak as you look."

"If you think you can take me down so easily, I have bad news for you." Naruto squared his shoulders and beckoned the Dragon Empress. "Come at me with all you got."

Tiamat merely smirked before her gigantic frame dissolved into water vapour, mortifying the blond. Naruto didn't even had the opportunity to react before something hit him and he was sent flying to the sky. The Dragon Empress was fast. She was practically lightning itself. She had bolted towards him with such terrifying speed that she could land a cheap-shot right at his face without giving him the luxury to block.

Naruto regained his bearing, remained afloat in the atmosphere, and wiped the blood off the edge of his lips. "That felt like getting hit by a truck. She's crazy fast, despite how big she is -"

"Boss~! You forgot about me!"

The blond turned around and instinctively shielded himself from a devastating punch from Crom Cruach. Although he had deflated the assault, it wasn't comforting for Naruto to know that the shockwave had enough force to part the clouds in the sky. "I could sense you coming from miles away, Crom."

"Yeah? I bet you didn't sense the big guy behind you though."

Naruto didn't manage to finish whatever he wanted to say, because Tannin had materialised right above him in a static blur and had struck him with his claws. However, the blond had already anticipated the ambush and had disappeared into a violent whirlwind, alarming the dragons. Reacting to impulse, Crom Cruach shifted to his side to duck from Naruto's roundhouse kick.

Without giving the Black Dragon King any opportunity to retaliate, Naruto channelled tremendous chakra into his feet and unleashed a volley of fast kicks. Crom Cruach struggled to dodge from the barrage of unpredictable assault, but smirked when his boss was swiped away by Tannin's tail.

Naruto did a few acrobatic back-flips to diminish the impact, released a burst of chakra beneath his sole, and charged at Tannin. However, his trajectory was intercepted by the sudden appearance of Tiamat, who lowered her jaw and expelled a tsunami of white inferno at the blond. Naruto dexterously evaded the fire by performing a quick replacement technique with the rock from afar.

The blond leaned against a rubble, snuck a few glances behind his shoulder to ensure nobody had noticed his presence, and let out a sigh of relief. "It's already tough for me to fight one dragon. Now, there's three of them. I really need to think of something before they melt my -"

"You are playing with fire the moment you picked a fight with me, darling."

Naruto turned around sharply and was astonished to see a beautiful woman levitating before him. Her cascading azure hair flowed like a waterfall to the back of her ample hip. She wore a skin-tight blue cocktail dress that emphasized all the alluring curves on her body. The oriental beauty's bewitching gaze sparkled with impish glint as she sat with her legs crossed in the air. She noticed the confusion splattered on Naruto's features and let out a soft giggle. "Hypnotised much? It's me, Tiamat."

"W-Why are -"

"Dragons of my calibre are masters of magic. This is the form I chose to take." Tiamat flicked her hair to her back and smiled sensually; the gravitas she exuded was stunning and mesmerising to Naruto. It was as if power and grace were mere air to her. "Say no more. Come at me with all you got."

Naruto clamped his palms together in a prayer motion and bellowed. "Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan!"

Tiamat almost whistled as she gazed in awe at the sight before her; enormous trees erupted from beneath the dry land, whiplashing its roots in fury and rising to towering height. In an instance, the once fertile ground was nourished by the enchanted forest. Tiamat tilted her head, studying the blond impassively. "Is this all you got? Summoning a forest? It's a little disappointing."

"The show is about to start." Naruto stretched out his hand and spread open his palm. "Bansho Ten'in!"

Tiamat was baffled and astonished when an almighty force, powerful enough to lift the entire ground around her, pulled her and all the crushed debris towards the aloof blond. Much to her horror, the tree roots dancing around Naruto were moulded into sharp spears and they launched themselves at her at dangerous speed. Tiamat gritted her teeth, regained her momentum, enhanced the durability of her skin with arcane magic, and braced herself for impact.

 _"He deliberately summoned the forest as a distraction. He knew I won't do anything drastic, so he used this as an advantage to pull me to him while attacking me with those tree roots. Impressive strategy. Nevertheless…"_ Tiamat narrowed her glowing eyes and muttered a foreign mantra. In an instance, a spherical telekinetic shield encompassed her frame, halting the force and preventing the bombardment of tree roots from reaching her. "Please do not think that you are in any way superior to me, darling. My defensive magic can even shield me from a nuclear blast."

Naruto grinned. "I'm counting on that."

"What -"

Seven black orbs manifested into existence and they rotated around the blond in formation. Naruto snapped his fingers and the black orbs were simultaneously fired at the unfazed Tiamat. The Dragon Empress expected her impenetrable shield to repel the assault, but to her terror, the black orb pierced through her defence effortlessly. She instinctively sidestepped the shower of projectiles, but were astounded that her shield was rendered useless.

Naruto applauded and exclaimed. "Good reflexes. If you haven't tried to dodge that, you would be dead by now."

Tiamat arched a brow and glowered at the cocky blond. "Don't be so full of yourself, darling! We are just getting started."

"Face it, Tiamat." The blond grinned knowingly. "You're into me."

The Dragon Empress scoffed. "Please. I'm not into you. I'm Tiamat."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Tiamat grinned. "That means I am very much into that rock over there like I'm into you."

Naruto tilted his head and a confident smile curled up his lips. "Doesn't matter. That could also means you have some rock fetish. I don't mind, really. We can have an orgy party soon."

"Please -" The Dragon Empress smiled teasingly. "- if you're lucky enough to have me, you wouldn't want to share. I am, after all, in a position of power to toy with you any time, any place. They don't call me Dragon Empress for nothing, darling."

Raising her slender hands, the Dragon Empress called forth a torrent of ravenous water from the heavens, intending to crush her opponent with the sheer weight of the sea. Naruto sped through a few hand seals and spat out a wave of gluttonous flames at the water, evaporating it into hot steam. In the midst of confusion, Naruto didn't foresee a sneak assault from Tiamat, who had appeared behind the blond and delivered a devastating kick to his back.

Spontaneously, Crom Cruach materialised right before the blond and gave him a clothesline, sending the blond spiralling to the sky. Tannin leaped to the air, did a flip, and smashed Naruto with his tail, causing the blond to pummel into the ground.

The Blaze Meteor Dragon landed carefully beside his companions and folded his arms. "You have forgotten what it's like to be strong, Naruto-dono." Tannin shook his draconic head. "Part of the reason why you are unable to regenerate portion of your chakra is because you doubt yourself. You doubt your capability to actually become great again. Your uncertainty makes you weak. We are here to remind you that the Great Beast of Apocalypse is still inside you, trapped, isolated, and forgotten."

Naruto groaned aloud as he clambered up to his full height, dusted his clothes, and walked out of the crater. "I don't want to be that monster again."

"You don't have a choice, boss. If you want to regain your powers, you need to embrace your dark side. I believe this is your only chance to learn how to properly control that crazy powers of yours while sating your unquenchable thirst for blood. If you don't nail this, you ain't getting anywhere." Crom Cruach sighed. "Well, we'll wrap things up from here -"

"No!" Naruto protested. "I can still fight!"

"Don't be stupid, darling." The Dragon Empress chided. "Tannin is right. You hesitate a lot when you fight. Until you've found the resolve to truly regain your lost powers, you won't get anything out of our spars. For now, rest. I will build a hot spring for us. We can replenish our strength there and continue where we left off some other day."

Crom Cruach beamed. "Really? I love hot springs!"

Tiamat narrowed her eyes fiercely. "Not for any of you. I made it just for him."

The Black Dragon King stomped his feet like a child who was refused his precious candy and whined. "That's bullshit! Why does boss always get the good things? I want in too!"

"Silence." The Dragon Empress glowered at Crom Cruach, who shrunk fearfully and stared at her with big, adorable eyes and trembling lips. Rolling her eyes, Tiamat placed a hand on her curvaceous hip and said in an authoritarian tone, "Your puppy-dog pout is not going to cut it. This is final. Tannin, get us some food. Crom-chan, go help Tannin."

Tannin almost snickered at Crom Cruach's plight. "You know you fucked up when the queen demands you to shut up, Brother Cruach."

"No one asks for your opinion, Tan!" Crom Cruach deflated, heaved out a sighed, and crossed his arms. "Fine! At least I tried."

Tannin bowed politely at the Dragon Empress, acknowledging her order. "We will proceed with your order, Lady Tiamat."

The Blaze Meteor Dragon morphed into a rugged man with a strong physique who seemed to wear a permanent scowl on his face. Crom Cruach thought the look on Tannin's face was just like how he looked like when he was constipated. Tannin dug out a cigar from his shirt's breast pocket, scratched his moustache, and lit up the cancer stick from the heat of his breath. "Alright, now I'm ready. Let's go get ourselves some breakfast buffet from that town near Canberra. They have the best damn T-bone steak in the damn state. We don't want to be late."

Crom Cruach pouted. "I don't want no stinky-ass steak! I'm gonna grab myself some chocolate!"

"Your love for junk food repulses me to my core." Tannin frowned.

"Oh yeah? You know what? I'm gonna head down to the nearest animal shelter, get a grumpy cat that looks like you, I'll make you fall in love with that grumpy cat, and then on some lonely night, I'm gonna break into your home, stab that little shit in its face right in front of you, and punch you right in the nuts."

Tannin deadpanned. "And what are you going to do after that?"

Crom Cruach blinked. "I… haven't gotten that far, but most likely, I would punch you right in the nuts again."

Naruto watched impassively as the dragons-in-disguise soared to the sky, bickering incessantly. He let out a sigh of relief, turned to Tiamat, and smiled. "So, let's get down to the hot spring. Where are you going to build it?"

"Come with me." Tiamat coiled her hand around Naruto's elbow and led him somewhere, a devious grin curled at her pink lips.

-Devil Game-

Rias Gremory sat on her leathered-cushion couch, staring blankly at the pillow resting on her lap. Her worst nightmare would soon befall her, but there was nothing she could do about it. Despite her persistent effort to convince her parents not to proceed with her arranged marriage, her pleas had fallen on deaf ears. The Lord of the Gremory clan had chastised her for being a pampered princess who didn't know any better, but that wasn't the case.

She knew how cruel Riser Phenex was and the atrocity he had committed.

In the midst of her silent lament, the princess didn't notice Akeno had plopped down beside her. "Are you still thinking about… that?"

Rias sighed. "What else would I be thinking about?"

"I'm sure we can work on something else. Maybe we can persuade -"

"It doesn't matter. Nothing would change my father's mind. This accursed marriage is a symbol of unity for the Gremory and the Phenex clan. I am just one of the many tools my father has employed to further advance his goals." Rias nursed her throbbing head. "My defiance would not sway my father's thoughts. He only believes in absolution. Such is the fate of puppets."

Akeno shook her head and grasped her best friend's shivering hand. "We can work something out. We always do."

Rias turned to her Queen and managed a weak smile. "It's getting late. You should get some sleep."

"Rias, listen, I -"

Suddenly, the sash windows in Rias's chamber shattered, startling them in the process. Everything happened too fast for both girls to react. A statuesque woman with curvy violet hair lunged at Akeno from the shadows, effectively pinning her down on the floor and restraining her. Akeno squirmed, but gasped in horror when she smelled the perfume the intruder wore. "Y-Yubelluna?"

Yubelluna narrowed her eyes and leaned down, whispering softly into Akeno's ear. "Forgive me, Akeno."

"W-Why are you doing this, Luna?" Akeno gritted her teeth and struggled to channel her magic, but Yubelluna had her head slammed on the floor. The black-haired beauty moaned in pain, but a sudden realisation had dawned on her. If Yubelluna was atop her, then that would mean -

"My lovely Rias. How have you been? Do you miss me? Because I sure miss you."

Rias was backed into a corner. She wanted to save her friend, who was blindsided by Yubelluna's stealth assault, but there was nothing she could do about it. Riser Phenex stood before her with the conceited grin plastered on his face. His lewd eyes were ogling at her voluptuous figure, much to her chagrin and apprehension; the way he looked at her was enough to make her stomach churn.

She felt vulnerable and naked in front of Riser, because he knew how much controlled he had over her, and she knew her screams would mean nothing to her father, even if he was here. Her hand instinctively reached to the wall and she scratched the cold surface of the wallpaper with her nails. "W-Why are you here, Riser? You, of all people, know it is a federal crime to attack a noble such as me."

"I didn't attack you, did I?" Riser glanced at a writhing Akeno and grinned triumphantly. "I only want to talk, that's all."

Rias swallowed hard and raised her volume. "Your methods of initiating a conversation is crass and unpleasant. Unhand my Queen this instance! I won't ask twice."

Riser tilted his head, his egotistic smirk remained unfaltering. "Oh? Making demands now, are we? Have you forgotten who you are? Or what you are to me? Do you even know the extremity of your situation? It won't be long before you are married to me. You belong to me, Rias Gremory. We might as well get ourselves familiarised with each other. It would save us the trouble of getting to know each other later, you know what I mean?"

The redhead growled. "If you so much as lay a finger on me, I -"

"What would you do? Huh?" Riser took a step forward and cupped Rias's cheek, pulling her face to him with a violent tug. "You pathetic fool. Do you really think you have any say in this matter? Your father has handed you to me! The Council has approved this marriage. Do you even know what that means? Not even your brother can do anything about it!"

Despite the crude treatment, Rias's teary eyes were burning with hatred as she glared daggers at her tormentor.

Riser's eyelid twitched vigorously, annoyed with Rias's silent spite. His free hand groped her right breast and he gave it a vicious squeeze, snickering in contempt and twisted glee as the red-haired princess screamed silently. Riser wrapped his boorish hand around Rias's soft neck, hoisted her mid-air, and slammed her on the marble floor.

The redhead spat out blood and groaned in agony.

Akeno, who was subdued on the far end of the room, could only watch helplessly as her best friend was brutally manhandled by the loathsome and vile monster that was Riser Phenex. Tears were streaming down her cheek as she had to bite down her lip for her to endure her anguish. "L-Luna… please… don't do this. I'm begging you. Rias doesn't deserved this!"

Yubelluna looked away from what was transpiring before her and closed her eyes. "I don't want this anymore than you want it, but I am obligated to fulfil his desires, regardless of how audacious they may be. I am a slave, just like she is. This is our fate, Akeno."

"Luna, this isn't you. Please -"

"Just stay quiet, Akeno." Yubelluna enunciated every syllabus of her words with remorse and fear. "Please…"

Akeno shut her eyes and bit her lower lip harder until she could taste her own blood; her pain was the only thing she could hope to drown out the horrid and traumatising screams flooding the room.

Rias coughed out globs of blood as Riser continuously smashed his foot down on her stomach. "Stupid wench! Do you even know who I am? Who the fuck do you think you are talking to? Huh? I am Riser Phenex! I am an Immortal! Do you even think your powers can match mine?"

Riser seized Rias by her hair and pulled her up to meet his penetrating gaze. "Have you finally understood your place, Rias?"

The red-haired princess did the last thing she could do to regain whatever that was left of her dignity; she spit at his face. In a fit of fury, Riser tore off the remnant of her tattered school uniform and punched her in her gut. Rias felt fire and pain coursing through her being and her paralysed body collapsed like a ragdoll; she could neither scream nor struggle as Riser kicked her bruised face.

When Riser was done with the torture, he blew off a sigh of content and stared down at Rias's defeated and humiliated form. "Now, do you understand your place? Remember this pain, my beloved. If you ever defied me again, I will put you through this hell. And it won't be over until I said so. I will break your body and soul until you finally understand how weak and powerless you are! You will always be my slave, Rias! Always! A pathetic, mewling, weak, feeble, useless slave!"

The princess withstood the barbaric torment without losing her consciousness; she refused to let Riser see through it. Her haunted eyes gazed lifelessly at a sobbing Akeno, who was lying beside the couch, restrained by Yubelluna. Her vision was jarring and her hearing was starting to fail her; she didn't even realise she was lying in a pool of her own blood and saliva.

Riser let out a soft chuckle and stood up. "Good job, Yubelluna. You can unhand the filthy unimportant little thing now. I have done what I wanted to do. Let's go."

Yubelluna nodded and released her unbreakable hold over Akeno.

The Phenex heir glanced down at the beaten Rias and exclaimed. "I hope you are at your best behaviour when I come back next time to visit you, my beloved Rias."

-Devil Game-

Naruto let his eyes wandered around his vicinity, registering the vast barren tundra, but still no sight of a hot spring. Tiamat stopped abruptly, crouched down, patted the soil, and nodded. When she gently knocked the ground with her knuckles, the sand dunes solidified instantly before it sank to form an enormous crater. Tiamat gave her wrist a gentle flick and steaming fresh water from the heavens were poured into the giant basin.

When the process was completed, Tiamat performed a few magic barriers around the hot spring and dusted her hands. "What do you think? This hot spring is enchanted with healing powers. It can even heal a brain-dead patient if you soak the poor fellow in the water long enough. Are you fazed by me now?"

"I'm a simple man. I like a self-possessed, confident, strong woman at the top of her field. Tell me what's the secret behind your exceptional power? I can't lie to you; it makes you a really hot stuff."

"I'm the secret and when I turn around, you will know what's the secret behind me." Tiamat grinned playfully. "Still, I don't appreciate how you place limitation on my beauty."

Naruto only chuckled as he removed his shirt, getting ready for the therapeutic water to heal his wounds. He was surprised when Tiamat stepped forward, closing the distance between them. "Whoa. What's -"

"I see you're ready." Tiamat blew out a sultry breath and traced her fingers around Naruto's firm abs. "Let's get started now."

Naruto arched his brow, not sure what was going on. "What's getting started?"

Tiamat reached to the back of her dress, pulled down the zipper, and let her dress slipped down to her feet, exposing her naked body for Naruto to see. "Take me."

"Tiamat, I think you're getting the wrong idea, I like to flirt with you, but I -"

"No, the one who doesn't get it is you." Tiamat wrapped one of her slender leg around Naruto's waist and licked her lips seductively. "We dragons are facing extinction. And if you haven't noticed, male dragons are the dominant gender amongst our species. That isn't a good thing, because they don't reproduce. The world is a cruel place. I need someone powerful to give me strong children. Do you understand?"

Naruto shook his head and wanted to step away, but Tiamat was relentless as she held onto him with a powerful grip. "This is wrong, Tiamat. We can't do this."

"This is no longer about you or me, my love." Tiamat scratched Naruto's crotch tenderly, an impish grin played about her lips. "This is about the survival of my race. I can't do this alone, darling. I need you… I really need you."

The blond felt his will enervated, not knowing that Tiamat was surreptitiously flooding his body with an abundance of pheromone. She knew the legendary Beast of Apocalypse had an unyielding will, if his capability to resist her charm was anything to go by, but nobody could withstand her beauty, she was sure of it. "I'm trying my best not to do something that I would regret tomorrow morning, Tiamat."

"Don't resist." Tiamat's hand had already slipped into Naruto's pants and she grasped his firm shaft with husky breath. "I beg you, my love. Grant me my wish."

"Tiamat, I -"

She silenced the blond by capturing his lips with hers. Naruto widened his eyes as Tiamat intruded his mouth with her tongue, exploring his cavity hungrily. He knew he had to push her away, but his body wouldn't listen. In the heat of passion, Naruto lost his will to fight back; he snaked an arm around her waist, his free arm grasped the back of her head, and he started to fight for dominance.

Tiamat moaned with pleasure as Naruto instantly dominated her in their passionate tongue fight. She melted into his arms, allowing the blond to explore every curve of her body. The Dragon Empress wrapped her hands around Naruto's neck and gave herself to him, permitting him to do the one thing millions of men would die for.

Making love to her.

Tiamat pushed Naruto gently away, separating their kiss with a string of their saliva. "Tonight is our night, my love."

"What's tonight about, Tiamat?"

They jumped in fright and snapped their attention to their back, only to see a grinning Crom Cruach wagging a finger at them. "I see how this is. Tiamat, you naughty snake! You lure my boss here just so you can do your thing on him. I knew you were trouble when you didn't allow me or Tan-chan to get into the hot spring with you two. Hey, don't mind me. By all means, please continue. I'll pay to watch if I have to!"

Naruto realised all the pent-up sexual frustration inside him were gone. Regaining his composure, the blond caressed the empress's cheek, who was staring at her with needy and pleading eyes. He gave her a peck on her reddened cheek and smiled. "Let's try to get to know each other first before we jump to the climax, alright? I would make love to you if you truly want, but not in this kind of circumstances. Come back to me when you are level-headed and we'll talk, okay?"

The blond spun around, gestured the giggling Crom Cruach to follow him, and jumped into the hot spring.

Tiamat looked away and clenched her fists, a maelstrom of turmoil and rage was swelling inside her.

"If I may, Lady Tiamat." Tannin stood behind the Dragon Empress, his cigar was still in his mouth. "I am fully aware that you are devoted to your duty to restore our race, but I believe this is not the way. However, I can tell that Naruto is a good person. You should consider his proposal."

The hulk of a man tore off his shirt, revealing his manly chest-hair, and dove into the hot spring.

Tiamat was already gone.

-Devil Game-

"Correct me if I'm wrong -" Tannin, who was still in his disguise, crossed his hands and glared apathetically at Crom Cruach. "- you just cock-blocked Naruto."

The Black Dragon King scoffed as he leaned against a rock, enjoying the hot spring. "I didn't cock-block him. She was throwing herself at him, but he rejected her like a dick. Not my fault boss swings the wrong way. Not that it matters though, boss. I would always love him no matter how gay he becomes."

"Oi! I'm still here, you know?" The blond grumbled and crossed his arms; he was delighted to know that Tiamat was true to her words; the hot spring was like a miracle fountain. His muscle aches and bruises were gone when the water touched his skin. "Besides, it wouldn't be right for me to do her just like that. She was desperate because of the weight on her shoulders. I guess she thought this would be the only solution for her."

Crom Cruach rolled his eyes. "Fuck the solution. If I were you, I would just make her go on all-fours, ye know what I mean?" He giggled, but Tannin and Naruto weren't amused. "What? It's just a joke. Don't get so butt-hurt about it."

"I would love to be in bed with her, but my conscience wouldn't allowed it. I felt like I would be taking advantage of her weakness if I just went with it."

Upon hearing Naruto's confession, Crom Cruach wiped a tear off his eyes. "Boss, you're overflowing with manliness and I admire you. You are truly the man that we need, but not the man we deserve!"

The blond smirked and splashed water at his subordinate's face. "Just enjoy the hot spring, drama queen."

Tannin sighed. "There is something I wish to talk to you, son, if you don't mind."

Naruto cocked a quizzical brow. "Yeah? What is it?"

"Regarding about your problem with your seals, I personally know a seal master who could offer some help to you."

That caught Naruto's attention. "What? Really?"

Tannin nodded. "Yes. I'm not sure if you have heard of him before, but he was rather infamous in the past. He goes by the name… Mephisto Pheles."

Mephisto Pheles wasn't just any ordinary devil. He was once a legendary demon that was feared and revered even by the likes of the Four Great Satan, who was said to be old enough to see through the dawn of hell. He was rather infamous for his foul mouth, but had yet to participate in any conflicts with any warring factions. Naruto had not fought the ancient devil before, but he knew at his weakened state, he would be out of his league if he tried anything funny.

The blond sighed. "I see no harm meeting him. Let's give it a go. Do you have any ways to contact him?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."

They promptly finished their bath in the hot spring, got themselves dressed, and ventured to the other side of the desert where Tannin would perform the summoning spell to bring about Mephisto Pheles.

Crom Cruach was actually surprised Tannin didn't get anything to prepare for the summoning ritual. "You sure you don't need a spare turkey leg or a rabbit's foot for your ritual? I have plenty if you need it."

"No. That's horrifying. Why do you need that? What are you? A Satanist?" The Blaze Meteor Dragon, who had reverted into his dragon form, harnessed overwhelming magic in his claw and slammed it down on the ground. Naruto could feel the sheer power radiating from the illuminating archaic symbols that decorated the dunes. The ground was trembling, the clouds had blotted out the sun, the desert creatures had burrowed deep within the dunes, and the air had become dense.

When they had summoned the ancient devil, he was moderately naked, covered only by a poncho that did nothing to hide his manhood and a cowboy hat that was tilted to the side. Mephisto Pheles, in all his glory, did not live up to Naruto's expectation. The primordial devil that was once crowned as the King of the Underworld took the form of a handsome man at his late twenties.

Mephisto took a few inebriated steps forward and surveyed his environment in confusion. "W-What in the world is this? Who summoned me? I was in a middle of something very fucking important!"

Tannin cleared his throat. "Lord Meph, we have summoned you for an urgent request."

Mephisto glanced up at the Blaze Meteor Dragon and yelled out in a thick British accent. "Tan? What the fuck can anything be more possibly important than me having an orgy with Mali, Sarah, and Jessie? Huh? Fucking answer me, Tan!"

Naruto had to resist himself from slapping his face and interjected. "Mephistopheles."

The ancient devil shifted his sight to the blond and narrowed his eyes. "My name is Mephisto -" He made a dramatic pause. "Pheles! And it sounds legend – Wait for it -" He made another dramatic pause. "Dary!"

Crom Cruach beamed. "Sounds awesome."

"Thank you! See, at least we have a fucking awesome guy over here who is smart enough to appreciate my awesomeness." Mephisto crossed his arms. "Now, what do you want from me? I got plenty of fucking things to do and I can't afford to waste time arguing with you SOB!"

Tannin bowed. "I apologize for this transgression, but the Beast of Apocalypse wishes to speak with you."

Mephisto arched a brow and glanced at Naruto. "You? You are the legendary Trihexa? That's a fucking joke, right?" The ancient devil looked at Tannin and was flabbergasted to know that the dragon wasn't lying. "Fuck me. I thought you were six feet under after that fiasco with God and everything. Fuck, I'm hyped. Awesome. What do you have in mind? Surely you didn't yank me out of my bedroom just so you could get some advice for bedding women. I mean, I won't say I'm a pro at hooking up with chicks, but I'm totally great at it."

"No. Nothing of that sort." Naruto straightened himself. "I need to ask something of you."

"Oh? Like a favour? You must be either barmy or bloody fucking desperate to ask shit from me." Mephisto adjusted his cowboy hat and sighed. "Well, I must be fucking daft to be curious about what you want to say, but I won't be a total douche to tell you to get stuffed, so let me have it. Come on, chop chop."

The blond was taken aback by Mephisto's willingness to help him and he coughed into his hand. "I know you are a master of sealing magic. Tannin told me about it. There are very few sealing masters in this universe. I know that you are capable of helping me."

"You want me to help you check on the seal God put on you?"

"No." Naruto responded dryly, much to Tannin and Crom Cruach's surprise. "I need you to help me check on Samael's."

"Samael?" The ancient devil stared at the blond incredulously. "Fuck me! You want me to do what again? Check on Samael's seals? Wait, let me get this right, you summoned me just so you ask me to help the Dragon Eater. Are you high on pot or am I the fucking donut here?"

"I'm serious. I prioritise my friend's needs more than anything. Samael has been trapped inside that cage for more than five thousand years. He doesn't deserve to suffer like that just because his father wants him to." Naruto sighed. "Look, I know you think I'm insane. If I were you, I would think I'm insane, but we live in an insane world. I don't need you to free him, but can you at least just give it a shot and have a look at the seals?"

Mephisto caught the glint of sorrow and empathy in Naruto's eyes and folded his arms. "You want to get my opinion about Samael's seals for yourself too, am I not right to say that?"

"I won't say I have no ulterior motive, but my intention is pure. I do want to help Sam, but I want to get my powers back too. If you could help Sam, you would inadvertently help me too. It's a win-win."

Mephisto leaned forward and narrowed his eyes. "Then why don't you try and convince me? You think I would just bow my head, say yes, let you run the show, and make me look like a fool?"

Naruto grinned. "You can choose not to help me, I'm fine with that, but I guarantee you that you will regret it if you walk away now."

"And why is that?"

"Five hundred years ago, you came to the mortal realm and established the Magician Council." Naruto placed his hands behind his back and started pacing back and forth. "You became the Managing Director of the Magician Council because you come to realise that humanity is defenceless against the threats from the world of the supernatural. You wanted to help and decided to form a pact with Faust. Your sympathy for mankind is praiseworthy, because if you hadn't stepped up, humanity, as we know it, would have been annihilated."

Mephisto stroked his stubble. "No thanks to the old Satan faction, really. Bunch of whiny, self-entitled, pompous fuck-ups who think they can do whatever they want. Faust was a good bugger, albeit a loony one, but he is only human. And for the record, I didn't help mankind out of kindness, I did it because I felt sorry for a bunch of hapless apes who aren't ready to fight a fucking war that could possibly drive them all to extinction just because a sleazy group of ignorant brats wanted to conquer the universe. And mostly because I was bored."

The ancient devil paused for a moment, contemplated for a while, before he blinked. "Why would my career has anything to do with this?"

Naruto pointed a finger to the sky and furrowed his brows. "It won't be long before they start waging a war against -" He pointed downward. "- those guys down there. I'm sure you know that the Khaos Brigade is on the move. Humans may have their technology to protect themselves, and your fraternity to help them in the shadows, but they are still not ready to fight gods and monsters. Their nukes won't even make the Four Great Satan flinch, lest intimidate them."

"So you're saying I'm incapable of protecting the organization that I have created?"

The blond didn't even blink when he answered, "When a devil like you chose to maintain his neutrality in a crisis like this, it makes you a threat in the eyes of the weary. You are the outlier in the script. A bystander who might tip the balance. Heaven despises you for what you are. Hell scorns you for what you believed in. You would be one of the first few who would be taken out, trust me on this. You may be strong, but what's the odds of you coming out unscathed in a battle against both the angels and the devils."

Mephisto placed a hand on his hip, mused inwardly as he studied his toe for a minute, and glanced up at the unfazed blond. "Are you implying that we should form an alliance?"

Naruto shrugged nonchalantly, his words were candid and his demeanour was sincere. "It won't be long before words got out that I'm still alive. I'm fine with that, but if heaven and hell do come at me, I'm not going to stand there and surrender. There will be war and it is going to be ugly. The last time I waged a war against heaven and hell, the four horsemen almost came down to pay everybody a visit, You just need to know that whatever I do now, I do it to prevent something like that from happening, but I can't do it alone. I wouldn't deliberately ask you to meet up with Sammy and examine his seals if I know you won't do it."

"I need to think about this." The ancient devil folded his arms. "But I need to know one thing: can I trust you?"

Crom Cruach took a step forward and placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Let me answer that for you, boss." Naruto nodded and gave his subordinate an appreciative smile. The Black Dragon King stared at Mephisto and schooled his face. "I was once the king of all evil dragons. I did many horrible things, but long story short, boss came to me and offer me a chance to redeem myself. I took it and I've been the happiest dragon ever since. If he could forgive me and give me a chance to turn over a new leaf, I don't see why you couldn't trust him. He's a pretty great guy, if you ignore the part where he talks to himself sometimes, shampoo his hair with body-wash, read porn -"

Mephisto gave Naruto an astonished look. "Read porn? Shampooing hair with body-wash? Fuck me! Who does that? What are you? A hippie?"

Naruto blushed in embarrassment and whacked the back of Crom Cruach's head. "Just shut up, Crom. You're making things worse!"

"Worse?" The Black Dragon King nursed his sore head and pouted at his boss. "B-B-B-B-But… I haven't told him that you once tried to lick the – Mpph!"

The blond had hastily cupped his subordinate's mouth and smiled uneasily at the bemused ancient devil. "Yeah, let's get going, shall we? You need some time to think about my proposal, yeah? I need to get home, so let's get going, huh?"

Mephisto gave Crom Cruach a wink and smirked evilly. "Let me know that secret, okay?"

The Black Dragon King, despite squirming under Naruto's hold, gave the ancient devil a thumb-up.

Tannin, who had been rather silent during the conversation, ambled towards Mephisto and nodded at him. "Shall we, sir?"

"Of course, Tan." The ancient devil glanced at Naruto and gave him a nod of respect. "I'll see you soon."

"It's Naruto." The blond yelled out.

"Yippee Ki-Yay, mothafu -" Before Mephisto could finish his favourite phrase, Naruto and Crom Cruach had pulled their eyelid provocatively down at him and vanished, much to the ancient devil's chagrin. "Ah, fuck me!"

Tannin stared at the ancient devil and said, "You already have an answer in mind, right?"

Mephisto sighed. "I don't have a fucking choice now do I? Say yes, say no, the factions are still going to fight. Besides, I don't think it would be wise of me to be a fucking smartass and just ignore whatever he had just said. I have to give that man a credit; he knows quite a lot about the screwed-up politics that are going on in hell. Zekram that old coot and Diehauser that phony bigot have become fuck-pals recently. We all know nothing good comes out from those two. Give me more of a reason why I should help him. In fact, having him as an ally would be fun. What do you think?"

"I wouldn't have brought you here if I don't trust you to make the right choice."

The ancient devil narrowed his eyes and shot the dragon a dirty look. "You sneaky bastard. You knew I would help him regardless. You played me!"

"I don't know what you're saying." Tannin feigned his innocence by looking away. "And you should wear some pants. No one wants to see you naked."

Mephisto looked down, examined his crotch, and looked up with a grin tugged at his lips. "That's not what she said."

-Devil Game-

Naruto was taking a night stroll along the empty street, venturing towards his apartment that was at the end of a sequestered district while humming a tune. Crom Cruach, who was clearly bored to death, raised a question, "Beside ramen, do you have any favourite food?"

"Yeah. Kala-chan and Ray-chan's home-cooked meals are pretty good." Naruto cocked a brow. "What's your favourite food beside KitKat?"

"Oh!" Crom Cruach beamed excitedly. "I like to put gummy bears between two apple-flavoured Hi-Chew candies. Wanna know what I called it?"

Naruto blinked. "Gummy burrito?"

The Black Dragon King contemplated for a moment and scratched his head. "That sounds pretty legit, actually. I called it Crom-chan's mouthgasm!"

"And why is that?"

"First of all, it's like eating bear meat, but instead of eating real bear, you're eating bears that are made out of candy." Naruto furrowed his brows in confusion, not sure what to think. Crom Cruach hoisted two fingers at the blond and smiled. "And second, the textures of the gummy bear really blend well with the Hi-Chew candy. Most importantly, the flavour of the gummy bear really brings out… a similar flavour from the Hi-Chew candy. It's really something."

Naruto almost slapped his forehead.

"Wait a minute!" Crom Cruach punched his palm and gasped. "Now that I think about it, all my favourite food consists of high overdose of sugar. You know what that means, boss?"

"You're on your way to getting diabetes?" The blond snickered.

"No! It means my favourite food is sugar!" They passed by Crom Cruach's favourite candy stall, much to Naruto's annoyance. The Black Dragon King started jumping up and down, tugging at Naruto's shirt. "It's Candy Island! Boss, can we get some candy? I mean, it's a sin to not get candy after walking past a candy store! Please boss!"

"No Crom. Let's go. I'm tired."

"Fine." The Black Dragon King deflated and folded his arms. "I'll just go in and walk around the candy isles without getting any. I'm sure I'll feel better doing that."

Naruto rolled his eyes, dug out his wallet, and gave his subordinate ten dollars. "Just go get yourself five KitKat bars."

"FIVE?" Crom Cruach's eyes sparkled with joy as he seized the cash from Naruto's grasp and dashed into the store.

The blond shook his head, let out a light chuckle, and continued his way to his apartment; he knew the Black Dragon King would probably be busy drooling at the candies for the next half an hour. When he reached the building of his apartment, he was mortified to sense an overwhelming power radiating from the direction of his apartment.

The blond darted across the corridors, reached the doorstep of his unit, and opened the door. His eyes were scanning all over his house; he could smell the rich aroma of baked pasta and meatballs emanating from the kitchen, but it was the dreadful silence that perturbed him. He closed the door behind him, ambled cautiously towards the kitchen, and called out, "Ray-chan? Kala-chan? You guys in there?"

"Yes, they are."

Naruto turned his attention to the back of his shoulder and scowled. "Ophis."

Ophis, the almighty Infinite Dragon God, stood before him with the grace of a goddess. She had discarded her child-form and had taken up the appearance of a beautiful woman who had a conspicuous taste of extravagance. Her skin was pale and lustrous like the glow of the moonlight. She could easily be described as woman of class and elegance, with a fine touch of impeccable beauty, which complimented the dress she was wearing. Her eyes, however, were illuminating a dangerous red. "It… has been a while, hasn't it?"

The blond gave her an appraising look and nodded. "Looking fine, huh? I see you ditched that kiddy form."

"I… am of many forms."

"Right." Naruto removed his jacket, tossed it at his couch, and glowered with annoyance at Ophis. "What do you want? I'm sure you didn't come here to have tea party with me. Why are you here?"

"You… have something that belongs to me." Ophis articulated every word with deliberately slowness. "I'm here to see Kuroka."

Naruto crossed his arms. "What makes you think she's still alive?"

Ophis deadpanned. "Please… don't take me as a fool. I… am the Dragon God. I know… everything. Besides… I stayed over for dinner just then."

Raynare and Kalawarner walked out of the kitchen with their apron on and an unnerved smile on their face. A timid Kuroka was covering behind the fallen angels, staring fearfully at Ophis. Kalawarner cleared her throat and spoke up. "Naruto-sama, we tried to tell her that she shouldn't be here, but she didn't listen. She said she was hungry, so Raynare suggested Ophis-san to try my pasta. She really likes it… so I guess that's something."

The blond turned to the apathetic Dragon God, who simply shrugged. "Your girls really know how to cook."

Naruto sighed. "So what now? Are you here to end what Kuroka failed to do?"

"No… not really." Ophis aloof eyes went to Kuroka, who flinched when she met eye-contact with her. "I… knew you wouldn't kill her."

"Why wouldn't I kill her? What gives you the confidence to say that?" Naruto folded his arms, a hand was scratching his chin. "I'm intrigued to know."

"The fact that you didn't terminate those two fallen angels have already convinced me that what I did was prudent."

Raynare and Kalawarner suddenly felt the floor had become an interesting thing to study.

Naruto arched a brow. "What are you saying? Are you telling me that you knew I wouldn't kill Kuroka?"

"Yes. We have fought before. You… are perhaps the only person I know who can be trusted to do what I can't do." Ophis smiled softly at the shivering cat-girl, who was hiding behind Kalawarner for comfort. "Something… is coming up. Something bad. I don't want my most trusted lieutenant to be caught in the cross-fire. She… has been through a lot for me. This is the only thing I can do for her."

The blond was confused. "Sorry, but I don't quite catch you. Are you implying that your subordinates are planning a coup against you?"

"I'm afraid… that I have already lost control of the Khaos Brigade." Ophis sighed. "A war is coming, Naruto. A war that… I have unintentionally caused. Billions of lives are at stake. I… am responsible for it, but I do not have the power to stop it. My men had went rogue. Their deception and treachery had led to me losing some portion of my powers. Like you, I am no longer the strongest existence in this universe."

"Wow." Naruto took a seat on a nearby bar-stool and glanced at Ophis with stern scrutiny. "This is much to take in."

"Yes… that's why I came here to tell you the truth." The Dragon God looked away. "I know I have no right asking you of this. We were never on friendly terms before. What I have done to you in the past is unforgivable as well. But… I beg of you, take care of Kuroka for me."

The blond caught a glimpse of maternal love shone in Ophis's eyes and he gritted his teeth. He had always been a sucker to family drama. Conceding to Ophis's demands, Naruto rolled his eyes and threw his hands to the air. "Argh. Fine! It's not like I'm not doing it now anyway. She's in great care. Don't worry about it."

The Dragon God smiled. "I… am in your debt."

She turned around and was about to walk her way out of the door when the blond muttered, "You wanna stay over for dessert? Ray-chan makes the best crème brûlée."

The elated fallen angel accepted her compliment with a little dance of joy and exclaimed aloud. "Yeah! You should totally stay for some. I make plenty because Crom-san has a sweet tooth. We have enough to feed ten people, actually."

Ophis shook her head. "That's… kind of you, but I have to take a rain check on that. There are urgent things that I need to attend to."

Naruto shrugged. "More for me I guess."

"And Naruto." The Dragon God turned ever so slightly in Naruto's direction and narrowed her eyes. "Heaven is not what it seems to be nowadays. Be careful."

The blond merely scoffed. "How bad can it be?"

-Devil Game-

Chief Archangel Michael ambled with dignified grace through a tenebrous hallway, his eyes fixated at the darkness before him. When he reached his destination, the archangel flicked his wrist and dispelled the sophisticated arrays of seals that encompassed a prison cell. He pulled open the door and approached the lone entity that was bound to a chair in the dark chamber.

The archangel snapped his fingers and the candlelight in the room lit up, revealing the face of another Michael strapped to the chair. "How have you been, brother?"

Michael, who was confined to the chair, looked up weakly and let out an exhausted groaned. "Please… I'm begging you… stop this madness… Lucifer."

* * *

Author Note: Thanks for the support, guys. I am aware that this story has attracted a few haters. I guess that's life. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I would like to say that I am aware that Koneko has an 'adult' form, but I really don't know how to feel about her. She is still a kid to me though. I don't know... However, pairing wise, I am not going to force it from happening if I don't think it can happen. Right now, I'm focusing on getting a solid story-line.

Pairings:  
1.) Harem - It is a very popular choice. Depending on how things go, this story may drifts towards it. 'Who' is what I'm worried about.  
2.) Akeno - Besides the request of harem, Akeno is a favourite. I personally like her, so I'll definitely roll with her.  
3.) Tiamat - She is a fairly new character in this story, so I'm not sure how it goes for her.  
4.) Rias - Despite how readers dislike her, I want to see what I can do with her.  
5.) Gabriel - I'm not sure about her... Judging by the fact that I got mixed-reviews from her, I'll have to think about it.  
6.) Kalawarner - She is not very that popular.  
7.) Raynare - She too isn't that popular as well. I'm not so sure though. I'll see how it goes.  
8.) Serafall - After what I did to her last chapter, you should know that I will do something about it.  
9.) Ophis - She is indeed a popular choice. The reviews from previous chapters have told me that much.  
10.) Rossweisse - I haven't introduced her yet, because it is still not the time for her to come in. In fact, I don't even know if she should come in.  
11.) Kuroka - Since readers like her, and I like her too, we'll see how this turns out.

Please drop a review and let me know what you think.


	7. The Turkey Conundrum

"Stop this madness, Lucifer!"

Lucifer shook his head and smiled sadly at Michael. "I can't, brother. It can't be stopped. The prophecy must be carried out. Judgement day will come, but the war will be won. I will create a utopia. A world that is rooted to the foundation of my dreams. Once my work is complete, you will be welcomed to join my paradise. Do you see now? I am the harbinger of a new world, Michael!"

"We weren't supposed to be like this! You are supposed to lead the garrison with me! We are brothers, Lucifer!"

The renegade archangel gritted his teeth. "That's why I didn't kill you, Michael! Because you didn't kill me when father told you to do so! Because we are brothers! Nothing is going to change that! You, me, Sammy, Gabe. We four were the first to be showered with our father's love and grace. We four were supposed to lead heaven to a new era, until our father created those humans! Everything is ruined because those flawed abominations showed up!"

Michael shook his head weakly. "No… brother. I don't know how to explain this to you, but this is not it!"

Lucifer leaned forward and glowered at his elder brother. "I am not inherently evil just because father wants me to be the prime devil. I did what father wants of me. I governed hell and did my best to judge all souls without prejudice, despite knowing how much He hates me. What did I get in return? Huh? WHAT DID I GET IN RETURN? You want to know what I got back."

Michael closed his eyes, unwilling to meet the deranged gaze of his brother.

"Nothing." The devil whispered. "I got nothing. I was the one who inspired our father to give those filthy apes freedom. I rebelled because I didn't want to be subjected to blind devotion. I didn't want to follow a cause because father said so. I have a mind of my own, but father didn't see it that way. He thinks I am evil because I spoke ill of what he did! Have you ever sat down on your high-and-mighty throne and re-evaluate all the past deeds our father has done?"

The chief archangel looked away. "I did. I know what he did was sometimes questionable, but he is God, and he knows what's right for the world. He only wants the best for all of us, brother. He loves you, Lucifer. Do you know he cried when you fell."

"Lies!" Lucifer grasped Michael's shoulders and shook him vehemently. "Our father wants the devil! Our father -"

"- never wants anything from us." The chief archangel bit his lip. "He just wants us to understand that all lives are precious, Lucifer. We are meant to be the guardians of the lost, protectors of the weak, saviours of the damned!"

"That's bullshit!"

"All lives are precious!"

"Even for those wretched beings who committed the darkest things in this universe? Huh? I was in hell, pending judgement to those wretched souls who had kidnapped hundreds of children and murdered them in cold-blood! I was there to judge those evil beings who went into a village, pillage, raped, and defiled the innocent with a sick smile on their faces! Are their lives precious, huh? TELL ME MICHAEL! IS THIS WHAT GOD WANTS?"

Michael smiled weakly. "That is not what he wants, but he still wants to save every souls, corrupted or not. Those humans aren't born to be killing machines, Lucifer. They are flawed, but they are not meant to be evil at heart. This is not what -"

"That is the most ignorant, self-entitled, hypocritical horse-shit I have ever heard, Michael. While you are having a blast in heaven, I was down there judging the condemned and let me tell you how many wretched souls I have encountered." The devil grunted. "They can't be saved."

"No, Lucifer." Michael drew a sigh. "I know you, brother. The one who truly wants to be saved… is you. Let me help you."

Lucifer shook his head, spun around, and walked to the door. "There is nothing you can say or do to convince me otherwise, Michael. I will bring salvation to humanity by destroying them. I will end all the conflicts between heaven and hell by wiping out every last thing that walks. When I have completed my work, I will repair this world anew. You will live to see it, brother."

"Lucifer… please -"

"I love you, brother." Lucifer spun around and marched out of the cell, leaving Michael to despair on his own.

-Devil Game-

It was the same routine for Naruto. He got up from his bed, stretched his limbs, and let out a yawn. He glanced down to the spare mattress sprawled beside his bed and smiled warmly at a slumbering Kuroka, who was mewing softly in her sleep. The blond reached down to the cat-girl and gently ruffled her hair. _"Things have been relatively quiet lately. Maybe I should return her powers to her -"_

"Hey boss!"

Naruto was about to scream like a little girl, but Crom Cruach had clamped his hand on his boss's mouth. The stunned and aggravated blond turned to his subordinate and glowered at him. "What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

"I came in from the ceiling vents."

"W-What?"

Crom Cruach grinned. "Anyway, Tannin and I figured that the traditional training method would take far too long for you to see any results, so we took the liberty of creating a pocket dimension inside your closet. It's like Narnia, except there are no lions, only dragons. Hogwarts ain't got shit on me, boss!" The Black Dragon King flashed a peace sign at the blond. "I think it is time for boss to pat Crom-chan on the back and shower me with praises."

Naruto stared agape at his closet and blinked. "Wait, let me get this straight. You went and turned my closet into a portal without telling me?"

"Yeah, I didn't brief you about it, but I got some bonus good news." Crom Cruach dug out a bar of chocolate from his pocket and smiled. "I got you the latest hazelnut chocolate from Wonka!"

The blond shot the bar of melting chocolate a disgusted look. "Why was it unwrapped? Isn't it unhygienic?"

"Meh." Crom Cruach scoffed. "It takes thirteen seconds for me to peel the wrapper off the chocolate. Too long. A dragon needs his nutrients when the dragon needs it. Ya know what I'm saying? Besides, thirteen is an unlucky number."

"I question the decisions you make in your life from time to time, Crom." Naruto let out a heavy sigh and noticed Kuroka was still soundly asleep; kudos to her for not waking up from their rather loud conversation. "Alright, let's get this over with."

Crom Cruach swallowed his chocolate bar with one bite, swirled around with his fingers on the surface of the closet door, and channelled arcane energy into his hands, but stopped abruptly to look at the blond. "Hey boss, wanna hear a joke?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "What?"

"I found a new candy. It's called, 'My loyalty to you'." The Black Dragon King giggled with a shit-eating grin laced on his lips. "And I'm high on it."

"Just get on with the spell. And do me a favour. Never grin like that. It's creepy."

"Roger that." Crom Cruach cheerfully completed the spell and opened the closet door, revealing a glowing portal. "Alright, Tannin is just on the other side of this portal. Let's go and say hello from the other side."

"I see what you did there." Naruto chuckled at the terrible pun his subordinate had just improvised and jumped into the portal. When they stepped foot into a tropical forest, the blond cringed. "Seriously? This is the training ground that you created?

Tannin, in his human form who looked like Rambo with a beer-belly and a manly moustache, shot them a deadpan look. "Guys, I have bad news."

Naruto arched a brow. "What?"

"First thing first." Tannin surveyed the forest cautiously. "This isn't a dimension that we have created. The portal was a prototype and I believe it did not function like it should be functioning."

Crom Cruach blinked before realisation dawned on him. "Right! I wasn't very good with seals. Guess I messed up the pocket dimension seals with an instant transportation seal. My bad."

The blond resisted his urge to palm his forehead, but then he detected an anomaly. "Crom… why am I unable to completely use my powers?"

Tannin placed a hand on his lip and scowled. "That was what I was about to get into. The portal somewhat robbed our powers away, rendering us mortal for the time being."

Crom Cruach raised a finger and beamed, as if a proverbial light-bulb just lit up in his head. "Oh, right. I messed up with the portal seal. Guess I'm not as good as you when it comes to crafting seals, boss."

"This is not the time for you to smile, idiot!" Naruto let out a fuming breath. "Alright, fine. How are we going to get back to my room? Open up the portal. Set up the seals. Do something!"

"Yeah… about that." The Black Dragon King smiled sheepishly. "I thought we would jump straight into training, so I set a timer for the next portal to open up. It will open up two hours from now. Hey, at least we're not trapped in this godforsaken forest as mere mortals for the rest of our lives, right? That's good news! Aww! Come on, guys! Stop being so glum and cheer up! I mean… what's the worst thing that could happen?"

Tannin furrowed his brow and studied the peculiar moon hanging in the bright sky. "I'm not sure if that is even a good news. Does this place looks familiar to the both of you?"

Naruto glanced up and inhaled the chilling autumn breeze. "Come to think of it, this place does look familiar."

Crom Cruach chuckled. "Oh! My bad again. I think the portal led us back to the underworld. And this portion of the underworld belongs to Serafall."

The blond widened his eyes like saucer and gaped at his insouciant subordinate. "S-Serafall? Motherfu -" Naruto seized Crom Cruach's shirt collar and violently shook him. "Do you have any idea what this means? Of all goddamn places, you just have to bring us here! HERE!? This is a disaster! If we die out here, I'm going to kill you Crom!"

"I will help you kill him too, Naruto." Tannin pitched in.

"Relax, guys." Crom Cruach laid down on the warm soil and smiled. "We have two options now. One, we make the best out of it and go explore the forest. Maybe do some hunting to get some food. We might encounter some monsters in our way and get eaten. Two, we can triple-spoon together like three miserable cowards till the portal open up. Crom-chan personally roots for the latter. It will be great to spoon and huddle together for warmth with my bros. Ya feel me?"

Naruto and Tannin shot the Black Dragon King disgusted looks.

(1 Hour and 30 Minutes later…)

Naruto, Crom Cruach, and Tannin were lying underneath a tree, spooning together for warmth. Tannin maintained his usual deadpan, but one could tell the annoyance emanating from his twitching eyelid. Naruto had a murderous look on his face; he hadn't eaten breakfast and now he was stuck in a hellhole without any means to return to his home. Crom Cruach was awfully optimistic about their conundrum. "Hey, guys, wanna sing a song together with me?"

"Shut up, Crom!" Naruto and Tannin exclaimed in unison.

"Fine, no song." Crom Cruach pouted, but an elated smile curled at his lips. "But I have this new idea that could earn us millions of dollars. Wanna hear it?"

Naruto let out a long sigh. "What is it?"

"Two words." The Black Dragon King smirked. "Dragon sperms."

The blond wasn't sure he should be perturbed or disgusted. "What?"

"Dragon sperms have great nutrients for human's skin, actually. Picture this. We use dragon sperms to manufacture cosmetic products and convince everybody in the world that spraying some delicious dragon DNA on their skin will make it glow. What do you think?" Crom Cruach proposed. "I mean, humans are stupid anyway. They believe whatever that sounds convincing, but I really think dragon semen is the punch line."

Naruto responded dryly, "No."

"What? Come on! Think about it, boss. Wank and get money. That's like my dream job! Our product's motto could be like -" Crom Cruach feigned a deep voice and muttered, "Semen… for the right Man. How do ya like that? Huh? And if you're wondering about the credibility of semen as cosmetic products, I got that covered too. I checked on Yahoo answers the other day."

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Three pathetic buffoons hugging each other in broad daylight. How lewd."

Naruto, Crom Cruach, and Tannin glanced up and subsequently blanched in horror as the Frost Queen of the Underworld was hovering above them, glaring at them with contempt. The beautiful Satan in all her glory was wearing her bronze armour and her black cape was billowing behind her back. Serafall placed a hand on her curvaceous hip and fixated her fierce gaze at a nervous blond. "I thought it was strange when I sensed a disturbance in the forest. Turns out my hunch was right. You three meddling fools are really here, just where I want you three to be."

Naruto swallowed down his trepidation, stood up abruptly, and smiled weakly at the exasperated Satan. "We didn't mean to trespass your territory. We'll leave -"

"Oh, no." Serafall descended right before the blond and caressed his cheek. "I don't care about those two fools. I only want _you_. I could smell your stench all the way from my castle."

Crom Cruach arched a brow. "Castle? Where is it? We didn't see no castle nearby."

"It's sixty miles away from here." Serafall shrugged when the trio gave her astonished look. "What? I have a really good nose."

The blond chuckled anxiously. "Yeah, good nose. Great. Well, it's a pleasure seeing you in the woods, so we will take our leave and -"

"When I'm done with you, you'll wish you were born a fish."

Oblivious to the tension in the air, Crom Cruach playfully teased. "Looks like someone has an anger problem."

"Anger problem?" Serafall smiled saccharinely. "I don't have an anger problem, but the three of you are dead to me."

Naruto sighed. "Look, I'm sorry for what happened -"

"Sorry?" Serafall's beautiful features contorted into one of madness and blind rage. "You selfish, no-good son of a bitch! Did you have any idea what you have done to me? You ruined my life! I hope you get eaten alive by the Great Red and have your faceless carcass shat out just so you can get eaten again by maggots, you mewling imbecile!"

Serafall's verbal outburst led her to unconsciously freeze ten acres of forest instantly.

"Wow, is she Elsa or what?" Crom Cruach nudged an aloof Tannin on his elbow and grinned. "I guess the cold doesn't bother her anyway, huh?"

Naruto growled. "Damn it, Crom! This is no time for your stupid jokes! Can't you see she is on the verge of killing me? Do something!"

Crom Cruach nodded fervently, took a bold step forward, puffed out his chest, and pointed a finger at Serafall. "Hey, you! Leave my boss alon -"

"Shut up and go dance over there!" Serafall jerked her chin at the nearby tree. Crom Cruach smiled brightly, skipped to the tree, took off his shirt, and started doing the Carlton dance like a pro, much to Naruto and Serafall's shock. Crom Cruach gave the blond a thumb-up while dancing. "This is the only way to keep you alive, boss. Besides, Crom-chan loves to hustle."

Naruto rolled his eyes and shouted at his subordinate. "Will you just quit the Fun-Crom act and put on your Serious-Crom game?"

Serafall snatched a handful of cloth from Naruto's jacket and glowered at him. "Now, listen up. I am going to hold you accountable for what you did to me back then. It was an unforgivable act and I won't let it go so easily. My purity… my capability for marriage… RUINED! All because of you! So, I want payback, and when the Leviathan wants something, the Leviathan gets something."

The blond was sweating profusely; Tannin watching the entire charade unfolding itself with apathy was not helping the situation.

"Alright, fine. What do you want? I'll do anything."

"Anything?" Serafall asked in a disturbingly low voice.

Naruto blinked. "Okay, am i the only one who is super creep out by that?"

Unexpectedly, Serafall pulled the blond to a hungry kiss, stunning him. He tried to push the Satan away, but her herculean grip on him was unbreakable. She snuck her tongue into his mouth clumsily and let out sultry moans, as if it was her first time. _"W-Wait! It could be her first time! But why is she doing this? Why am I in this situation? And why is Crom still dancing?"_

Naruto knew this was wrong. Serafall wasn't in her right mind. He would know because when she pushed him away, the Satan was giggling in a deranged manner; the bags underneath her eyes told him that she hadn't been sleeping well. She wiped the saliva off her soft lips and grinned impishly at the perplexed blond. "You are all mine now. I have just infused your body with my Pili-Pala Lovesick Spell! You will be my slave!"

The blond felt foreign energy intruding his system, but the spell wasn't vigorous enough to brainwash him. He effortlessly broke the binding spells without alerting the Satan; he really wanted to make it up to her, so he decided to keep up with the pretence for now and let her have him by the short and curly. "Fine, I'll do what you want for a week. But under one condition."

Serafall gasped as she held her flushed cheeks. "I-Is this what they called… Marriage proposal?"

"W-What? No! How did you come up with that kind of conclusion?"

-Devil Game-

"So, that's how it all happened. We didn't do any training, practically wasted two hours of my time, and Serafall is going to crash at my place for a week." Naruto took a bite from the plate of toast Kalawarner had made for him and smiled cheerfully at the dumbfounded fallen angels. "Any questions?"

Raynare nodded dumbly. "You do know she is one of the Four Great Satan, right?"

Naruto turned his attention to Serafall, who was watching cartoon on his television with piqued interest, and shifted his sight back to Raynare. "Yeah, I know."

"I-I'm sorry to say this, Naruto-sama, but we don't feel… comfortable knowing she is staying in this house," Kalawarner said meekly. "We fallen angels don't really have a good rapport with devils, no lest a Satan."

The blond waved a dismissive hand at the worried fallen angel and smiled. "Don't worry. She's relatively harmless."

They watched Serafall accidentally froze the television after she got jump-scared by a Halloween commercial. She giggled sheepishly at Naruto and the fallen angels and stuck out her tongue apologetically. "Sorry about that. I acted out on instinct."

Raynare deadpanned and whispered to Naruto. "Let's just hope she doesn't accidentally freeze us to death out of instinct."

-Devil Game-

When Naruto arrived to his classroom, he had immediately noticed an anomaly. Akeno had not scolded him for being an hour late for class. The blond strolled to his seat, ignoring the frightful gazes of his classmates, and plopped down on his chair.

Naruto threw his legs atop his desk, leaned into his chair, and folded his arms, glancing with concern at Akeno, who happened to sit in front of him. His lecturer thought that by putting the revered class president near him, his mischief would be tamed; how ludicrous. Mischief cannot be tamed, it could only be sated for a moment. Naruto wanted to prank his uptight lecturer so hard to prove him wrong, but he was distracted by Akeno's exhausted look.

She looked like she hadn't been sleeping for a month. Her usual confident and graceful smile was gone, replaced by a grim scowl on her alluring features. The blond flipped open his notebook, tore off a page, scribbled laxly on it, crunched up the paper, and tossed it at Akeno's shoulders. She turned her attention to him, her eyes were dull and lifeless.

Akeno picked up the ball of paper on the ground, opened the note, and read it quietly. She let out a weary sigh and shifted her sight back to the window situated beside her seat, ignoring the crunched up paper on her desk.

Naruto arched a brow and waited for the class to end.

The moment the bell rang, Naruto stood up from his seat, seized Akeno's wrist, and dragged her out of the classroom and to the rooftop.

"What's wrong?"

Akeno looked away. "It doesn't concern you."

"I know something happened." Naruto caressed Akeno's cheek and lowered his volume. "Hey, look at me. What happened? Tell me."

There was no room for negotiation and Akeno was starting to feel the cold façade she was holding up shattering. It was as if the warmth from Naruto's eyes were giving her hope and that sensation befuddled her. She bit her lips out of habit and balled her fists. "I said it doesn't concern you! If you know what's best for you, just leave me alone and give it a rest."

Naruto smiled softly at his troubled class president and pointed a finger at the sky, much to her confusion. "You know how the moon has this 'dark side' that it refuses to show us, right? There will be a time when the sunlight will reach that unreachable dark side. Well, I'm the sun and you're the moon. If you have something that troubles you, I'll be the bright sun to cast my sunshine on you. I won't abandon a friend in need."

Akeno averted her gaze and tried to hide the pink shades on her cheek. "You're so corny…"

"So does that mean you will tell me what is troubling you?"

"I… I'm just not happy, okay?" The raven-haired beauty tried her best not to look at Naruto's eyes; she knew how captivating his gazes were and he had the uncanny ability to see through her, but she couldn't let a mere human interfere with the affairs of the supernatural. "Just let it go, please?"

Naruto grasped Akeno's shoulders and frowned. "I'm not going to let someone who's unhappy out of my sight."

"It's just… I -"

The blond squatted down, startling her. When she peered down, she couldn't help but felt flustered at Naruto tying her loose shoelaces. "People often get hit by setbacks and couldn't find a way out. Sometimes, the solution is right in front of them. They just need to face it and get it done. Just like these shoelaces. If you leave them undone, you might trip and fall, but once you tie them up, you won't risk falling."

Akeno balled her fists. "You don't have to help me…"

Naruto smiled and stood up to face his class president. "I'm stubborn like that, now tell me."

"I…" Akeno conceded with a sigh. "I have a friend who… who is about to be dragged into a life where she wouldn't find happiness. She… doesn't want it, but there is nothing she can do to stop it, and I can't help her despite how much I want to. I… I want to do something, but I hate this feeling of helplessness. I'm so confused right now… a-and I just want to be left alone and think about this."

"I can tell you're lying about the last part." Naruto beamed and held Akeno's wrist. "When girls say they want to be left alone, half the time they actually mean they want someone to stay with her and listen to her problems. You know what? I know what we should do at time like this."

"W-What?"

"Let's get some ice-cream. I know this awesome ice-cream shop near the school."

"Ice cream? But the next class is about to start soon!"

The blond rolled his eyes. "It's not like you're paying attention to class anyway."

"It's not that…" Akeno fidgeted; she hated how the blond could turn her into a stammering schoolgirl. "I'm the class president. If the students know I skipped class and went out to have ice cream with the class's delinquent, I would never hear the rest of it."

"Nobody cares. If someone complains, I'll throw them into a giant fish-tank and feed them to my piranhas." Naruto dragged his class president away; she didn't even put up a fight.

-Devil Game-

Akeno sat in the corner of the ice-cream shop, surveying the plethora of romanticist paintings hung on the wall. She liked the cushy feeling the shop emanated; it was neither grand nor fancy, yet it had a dash of homeliness to it. When Naruto had arrived with a bowl of strawberry sundae, Akeno raised a brow. "One sundae?"

"We're sharing. It makes eating the ice-cream a whole lot better." The blond beamed, not noticing the raven-haired beauty had deliberately looked away. He pulled the chair out, settled down on his seat, and handed a spoon to Akeno. "Here. Let's eat. You don't want to waste it. These ice-creams are hand-made. Hestia baa-chan makes the best ice cream in town."

"Hestia? You know the owner?"

"Yeah." Naruto smiled. "I know her for quite a long time, actually. Anyway, she's not in the shop currently, so her assistant is filling up for her."

Akeno picked up the silverware, dug a little chip of ice-cream from the sundae, and ate it. Much to her delight, the taste was magnificent. The ice cream wasn't too sweet, yet it melts in her mouth, and despite it being a cold dessert, the warmth that spread into her body when she swallowed the treat reminded her so much about the days she spent with her loving mother.

The blond smiled and wiped the smear of whip cream off her nose. "Ah, girls. Always have to get the guy to wipe the cream off their nose. Keep this up and I might fall in love with you, Akeno-chan."

The raven-haired beauty squared her shoulders, leaned towards the blond, and smiled sensually. "You will not be the first guy who will fall head-over-heels for me, Naruto. I have a fan club back in school, remember?"

"Naw, but I can be the first guy who can make you fall head-over-heels for me." Naruto's sudden declaration had caught Akeno off-guard. She had confidence in her beauty and she knew men would crumble under her captivating charm, but it had never worked on the blond before. In fact, he would shrug her attempts of seduction off so effortlessly and retaliate with a bizarre statement that would enamour her. "Just kidding. Are you going to eat the ice-cream or what?"

Akeno pouted and fiddled with her spoon. "Naruto… do you think I'm pretty?"

"Yeah. Why the sudden question?"

"Well, guys usually -"

"I'm not your typical guy." Naruto interjected with a suave smile playing about his lips. "And if your friend really needs help, I will do my best to help her."

"Why are you so helpful?"

Naruto smiled. "The world is a pretty sad place to live in. If you can offer a little help to make someone feel better, I don't see why not."

Akeno returned the smile, albeit sadly. _"You're kind, Naruto. Your kindness and warmth are something that can really make my heart beats faster and slower at the same time. I think that's the reason why I have fallen in love with you. But… no matter how kind you are, no matter how bright and sincere your smile is, you can't help me. You can't help Rias. Nobody can."  
_  
-Devil Game-

Naruto had walked Akeno to her club room; he knew the route, since he had gone there before. The blond still couldn't understand how the school agree to fund the Oscar Nightclub or whatever it was called; strings were pulled, that's for sure. When Naruto sniffed the air, he noticed a faint scent of burnt ash in the air, but was distracted when Akeno abruptly turned to him. "Thanks for walking me here."

The blond smiled. "I told you before, didn't I? I may be an asshole, but I'm not -"

"- that kind of asshole who would let a girl walk herself home all by herself." Akeno finished with an impish grin curled at her lips. "You said it so many times, I can almost recite it."

Naruto flicked his fingers at Akeno's forehead.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"That's for being cheeky. I'm the only cheeky one here." The blond snickered, but his smirk faltered as he looked over the raven-haired beauty's shoulder. "Hey, someone in there?"

Akeno shrugged. "It could be Rias."

Naruto tilted his head and furrowed his brow. "No, I don't think so. Someone else is in there."

Thousands of things flashed across Akeno's mind. She knew Kiba would not be in the clubroom since his class wasn't over and Koneko should be attending her math class, so there shouldn't be anyone else besides Rias -

Akeno's eyes widened in terror as she spun around and barged into the clubroom. She could hear screams and psychotic cackles emanating from her best friend's bedroom. When she stormed into Rias's resting chamber, she was horrified to see Riser Phenex strangling a helpless and squirming Rias on the bed. The heir of the Phenex clan shifted his attention to Akeno and let out a dangerous growl. "You better not ruin my fun, filthy half-blood."

"Let go off her, you monster!"

"You dare order me around? ME? THE PRINCE OF THE PHENEX CLAN?" Riser lunged at a mortified Akeno and thrust his fist forward, but his punch was caught by an unfamiliar blond who suddenly appeared before him. Akeno, who was rooted to the ground in fear, was unable to register what was happening. Riser gritted his teeth furiously and glared at the nonchalant intruder. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Me? I'm nobody." Naruto smiled cheerfully. He glanced over Riser's shoulder and spotted a half-naked Rias scrambling to cover her modesty with the blanket. "I see that you are doing well preying on weak, defenceless girls. Great job. Very manly and smooth. Hey, do you mind finishing what you have started? I would pay to watch, actually."

The blond let go off Riser's fist, took out a handful of twenty-dollar bills, and handed to the befuddled Phenex heir. "Here, this is all I got. Come on, keep going. Oh, wait! Let me go get some popcorn before you continue, okay?"

Riser set the crunched-up bills in his hands alight and glowered at the enigmatic blond. "You are starting to piss me off, trash. Leave before I turn you into dust."

"Whoa, watch out." Naruto raised his hands in a surrender motion. "We got a badass over here."

"Why you!" In a fit of rage, Riser threw a punch at Naruto, but he was surprised when the blond evaded the strike with relatively ease. Within a fraction of a second, Naruto had retaliated with a swift chop to the side of Riser's neck, sending the belligerent Phenex heir crashing into a wall. Naruto sucked in air between pursed lips and shook his head. "That gotta hurt. Akeno-chan, be a dear and go tend to Rias-chan. I'll take care of our esteemed guest over here."

Akeno nodded dumbly and rushed to Rias's side, pulling her best friend to her embrace.

Riser climbed out from the crater in the wall, grunted in agony, and clenched his fists. "You bastard. You dare attack me?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Naruto cracked his knuckles and smiled jubilantly at the Phenex heir. "I'm Mario. It's my duty to fight Bowser and save Princess Peach whenever I can."

Riser screamed out a war cry and blitzed at his opponent with a barrage of punches. Naruto sidestepped the predictable assaults as if he was dancing before he suddenly yelled out, "Watch out for my awesome counterattack! SEXY KICK!"

The Phenex heir widened his eyes in shock and instinctively threw his hands forward in an X-formation to shield his chest from an imminent kick. Instead of delivering the promised kick like he claimed to do, Naruto delivered a right hook to Riser's unprotected jaw. The Phenex heir soared across the living hall of the clubroom like a ragdoll and smashed into another wall. The blond blew off smoke from his fist and chuckled triumphantly. "How does my sucker punch taste like? Does it taste like… justice?"

Riser groaned and walked out of the damaged wall sluggishly, wiping the blood off the edge of his bruised lips. "Y-You bastard! You said you are going to kick me!"

"And you actually believed me?" Naruto snickered. "Are you retarded or what? What kind of fighter actually yells out what they are about to do before doing it in a fight? You falling for my trick shows how intelligent you are."

"Oh yeah? How about this?" Riser thrust his hands forward and fired a stream of scorching hellfire at the unfazed blond. The hot flames devoured Naruto instantly, incinerating the surrounding furniture into cinders in the process. Akeno and Rias cried out fearfully, knowing full well that the inextinguishable flames of the Phenex clan could even melt the impenetrable scale of a dragon.

Riser cackled brusquely. "This is what happens when you defy me, scum! I am the scion of the Phenex clan! Nobody is above me. Not even the Four Satans!"

His grin faltered when his flames were snuffed out, revealing an unscathed Naruto chewing on a stick of cooked marshmallow. Rias and Akeno sighed in relief, but Riser was seething with untamed rage.

"Hey, the marshmallow is perfectly cooked. You want some?"

Relinquishing his pent-up umbrage and frustration, Riser roared and charged forward. Naruto tossed the stick aside, swallowed his treat, and reared his fist. "Brace yourself! SEXY PUNCH!"

Reacting to impulse, Riser shielded his face with his hand, but keeled forward when his opponent launched a devastating knee-strike into his gut. Without hesitation, Naruto brought down an elbow to land a powerful strike on top of Riser's head, breaking his defence altogether. Naruto swiftly connected a combination of punches and kicks before ending his chain of assaults with a strong uppercut to his opponent's jaw.

Riser flew across the spacious chamber and fell unto a coffee table. Naruto brushed his nose like Bruce Lee would, dusted his hands, and clicked his tongue in disapproval. "You are either stupid or born retarded. How did you fall for my trick twice in a row? Well, it's not like that matters. Hook me up with a Batman's costume and I will be rocking in the spandex in no time."

When Riser stumbled clumsily out of the mess he was in, he was trembling in unfathomable anger as his eyes were burning with malice. "I will kill you. No, killing you is too simple. I'm gonna burn you and -"

"Nope, not gonna happen." Naruto snapped his fingers. "Check and mate."

The Phenex heir peered down at his body and was puzzled by the array of glowing seals enwrapping his body. "W-What did you do to me?"

"Oh, nothing much. I just planted several explosion seals and an instant transmission seal on you when I was punching you like the punching bag you are. Once the bombs finish detonating themselves, you will automatically be teleported to a small shark pit somewhere in Cuba. Enjoy." As if on cue, a series of deafening explosions erupted on Riser; his screams of affliction died down suddenly when he was swallowed by a bright light.

Naruto spun dramatically around and bowed at an impressed Akeno and a bemused Rias. "And this is how it is done, milady."

The black-haired beauty narrowed her eyes and shot a suspicious look at the cheery blond. "How did you do that? Riser Phenex is a Rating Games champion, which means he is a pro in combat. Also, he is a devil, which means no humans can overpower him like you did. Seeing how you manage to beat him and show no sign of bewilderment when he generated fire in his hands, I think it is safe to say that this is not your first time fighting with devils."

Naruto did a sturgeon face and nodded with approval at Akeno's analysis. "You're good."

Rias looked away. "Thank you for saving me."

"It's no problem. Did he do anything to you before we came barging in?"

The redhead shook her head. "Besides damaging my clothes, nothing much. Now I need to get a new one." Rias sighed. "He will come back though. He is immortal, after all."

"Yeah… about that." Naruto scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "I got that covered, don't worry. I lied about the shark pit. I actually sent him to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. He's not coming back any time soon, immortal or not. He's having fun with Cthulhu, as we speak."

Akeno climbed out of Rias's bed and ambled warily to the blond. "What are you, Naruto?"

"I'm just a human trying to mind my own business."

The black-haired beauty shook her head and smiled. "You're a pretty bad liar, Naruto. You are that type of person who won't stay still if you see someone in trouble. So spill it. What are you?"

"Alright, fine. If you must know…" Naruto smiled suavely. "I'm Sexy Hermit hailing from Mt. Handsome. Anyway!" The blond hastily turned to Rias and seized her wrist. He drew with his finger on her hand and pumped his potent energy on her skin. A spiral tattoo emblazoned itself on her wrist, much to her surprise. "If you need any help, just channel your devil powers into the tattoo and I will appear faster than you can say Batman."

Rias nodded appreciatively at Naruto's kind gesture and smiled at him. "I won't probe if you don't want us to know. Still, thank you for saving me. I -"

"Ah ha! Found you!" Serafall materialised her form right beside Naruto, startling him and the girls in the process. "How dare you leave me behind and came to school without informing me? You are not allowed to leave your home or any places for that matter without my permission, kapish?"

"I did!" the blond protested. "I told you I am heading out and you barely acknowledged me."

The Satan's cheek flushed an embarrassing red as she averted her gaze. "It's not my fault. The show about that magical crime-fighting girl looks so amazing."

"Lady Serafall?" Rias and Akeno gawked at the sudden intrusion of one of the Four Great Satan.

Serafall blinked and turned to the girls. It took the Satan three seconds for her to register their faces before her lips curled into a bright smile. "Rias-chan! Akeno-chan! What are you doing here?"

Rias chuckled. "That's our line."

Naruto jerked with his thumb at a beaming Serafall and rolled his eyes. "I'm her slave for a week."

"For eternity." Serafall corrected.

The blond growled. "I didn't agree to that."

"Don't care."

Akeno, whose jaw was still hanging in the air, was trying her hardest to process an overwhelming load of information without having her brain shutting down on her. Naruto caught a glimpse of Akeno's astounded look and winked at her. "I know you have many questions for me at the moment and I'll answer all of them along with a cup of coffee some other time. We have important issue at hand now."

The blond turned to the only redhead in the room and put up a solemn expression. "Alright, tell me everything about your problem with Thanksgiving's Turkey who I just tossed into the Pacific Ocean not so long ago."

Rias disclosed everything. She told them about her father's intention to strengthen the Gremory clan's foothold in the Underworld's politics. She told them about Riser's nefarious schemes to break her spirit. She even told them about how she was physically abused by Riser a couple of times. Although nothing sexual happened, Rias was glad that Akeno was by her side all those times.

Naruto stroked his chin and mused. "So… we can't kill Mr. Turkey, because that might stir up a civil war between the Phenex and the Gremory clan. The engagement won't be called off so easily since your father really wants to be bang-buddies with the Phenex. We also can't go to the Satan for help because they are just figureheads in politics. So much for being a Satan."

Serafall puffed her cheeks angrily at the blond, who couldn't help but find her adorably beautiful. "Since Turkey-head is essentially an immortal, that means he is going to come back with vengeance in mind. He will challenge you to a Rating Game."

"What should I do, Naruto?" Rias clenched her fist. "Riser is the junior Rating Game champion. He has the skills and experiences that I don't."

"You have me." Naruto cradled redhead's hands and smiled gently at her. "I can help you, but I need you to trust me."

Akeno struggled to avert her gaze from watching the exchange between Naruto and Rias. She knew she shouldn't be jealous about it, but somewhere in her heart, she was envious. She wanted to be assured and comforted by Naruto. Akeno bit her lower lip and suppressed her selfish thoughts.

"I-I don't know…" Rias hugged herself. "I don't even know you well enough."

"How about this." Naruto's grin radiated a brilliant and infectious confidence that made Rias believed there was hope. "If I helped you win the Rating Game against Turkey-head and end your engagement, I get to bring you out on a date. How about that?"

"A-A date?" Akeno and Rias stuttered.

Serafall crossed her arms under her ample bosom and glared heatedly at the blond. "No slave of mine get to go out on a date with other girls without my permission!"

-Devil Game-  
(A few days later…)

Lord Gremory glared heatedly at Rias, who was shrinking under his patronising gaze. Earlier, Lord Phenex and Lady Phenex had barged into the Gremory Estate with fury burning from their eyes, demanding compensation for what Rias had done to Riser. The heir of the Phenex was found dying on the shores of Papua New Guinea. When he was awakened, he kept mumbling about demonic tentacles, much to Lady Phenex's horror.

"Did you or did you not attack Riser Phenex?" Lord Gremory growled. "I want the truth, Rias!"

"I didn't!" Rias protested. "He assaulted me and -"

"I don't want to hear your pitiful excuse, Rias! Riser has informed his parents that you were seducing him to your bedroom! He even said you wanted to mate with him, yet you tried to kill him because he doesn't want to consummate with you." Lord Gremory placed a hand on his hip, his glare intensified. "I don't know how he ended up dying in Papua New Guinea, but what you did is unforgivable, Rias! You shamed us!"

"You're willing to believe an outsider and not your own daughter?"

The infuriated Lord Gremory spat. "What is there to believe? Are you telling me that Riser Phenex is untrustworthy?"

Rias bit her lips and nodded. "Yes! That is what I'm -"

In the midst of umbrage, Lord Gremory delivered a tight slap across his daughter's face. "Incorrigible fool! Do you have any idea what this means for us? What you have done could possibly jeopardise the future of our clans! The unity between the Gremory and the Phenex will give me more political leverage against other clans! We could have easily made others, including the Bael clan, submit to our bidding!"

The redhead nursed her stinging cheek and stifled her urge to cry. She gathered her courage and glared with contempt and rage at her father. "Are you telling me that your conquest for power is more important than your own daughter?"

"It is ruthlessness that gives rise to power. I have thought you that since the day you learned to walk. You should have mated with Riser and be done with it! And yet… you have almost cost us a deal that could make me king of the underworld. I will not forgive such transgression, Rias." Lord Gremory narrowed his eyes. "I have spent decades pulling strings and making things work. I will not live to see it all ruined in the hands of my incompetent daughter."

Rias clenched her fist; a maelstrom of turmoil and anger stirred within her. She couldn't believe what she was hearing; her father was willing to sacrifice her happiness for the sake of absolute power. It was disgusting and despicable. To think that she had once loved her father, but this moment had changed all that.

She loathed her father.

"D-Don't you get it? That bastard tried to rape me!" Rias roared. "Doesn't that mean anything to you? I am your flesh and blood!"

"You are a mere instrument to my imminent accolade." Lord Gremory softened his voice, but it was filled with evil and malice. "In fact, you should have let him. I could have seen my plan comes to fruition sooner if you have just submitted to him. That leverage would have allowed me to make them submit to me so much easier."

Rias cupped her mouth and gasped in disbelief, her eyes widened like saucers as she glanced at the face of her aloof father. Tears cascaded down her cheek as she tried to make sense with her predicament. "Y-You want me… You want your own daughter to give in to that bastard?"

"Yes. I believe I made myself quite clear about that." Lord Gremory tilted his head and stared with confusion at his daughter. "I don't understand. You are born to mate with a superior being. That is your purpose. I simply made it beneficial for me, that's all."

Twirling the glass of wine in his hand, Lord Gremory narrowed his eyes. "Riser has requested to seek justice for what you have done to him. Your mother and I have agreed to his conditions. He wants to fight you in a Rating Game next month. I want you to lose in that game."

"W-What?"

"Once you are defeated, and you will be defeated, I want you to grovel at your feet and apologise to him. That is an order. You have started this trouble. You will be the one who will end it."

* * *

 **Author Note: Sorry for the long wait. I was busy with life. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I have re-organized the pairing lists.**

Pairings:  
1.) NarutoXRias  
2.) NarutoXAkeno  
3.) NarutoXSerafall  
4.) NarutoXGabriel  
5.) NarutoXKuroka  
6.) NarutoXTiamat  
7.) NarutoXOphis  
8.) NarutoXYasaka  
9.) NarutoXHarem

I will love to read what you think about this chapter, so please drop a review below and let me know.


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